Comic Review: Transformers Regeneration One

[Paulbot]

(Please post comments or even a fully comprehensive review - these are just brief details)

Comic review - Transformers Regeneration One
Creators - Simon Furman (writer), Andrew Wildman, Stephen Baskerville, Guido Guidi, Geoff Senior (artists)
Publisher - IDW
Retail Price - AU$5 (approx) per issue (US$3.99)
Page count per issue - 22 pages
Series length - Limited 20 issue series with two specials (#0 issue and #80.5)
Released - May 2012 to March 2014
Collected editions - Four volumes with approx 5-6 issues in each

[Paulbot]

Regeneration One 80.5 was released today as part of Free Comic Book Day.

My hopes weren't high. Far too something that is beloved is resurrected when it shouldn't be (bands, actors in famous roles, comic book runs) and it's never quite the same. I still have the sour taste of X-Men Forever (Chris Claremont 'picking up' his run on X-Men from where he left off) and the bitter taste of the same author's New Mutants Forever.

As much as I loved the Furman/Wildman run back when I was 12 years old, I've grown up, my tastes have changed. When Transformers was cancelled I wanted the characters to come back, but they did. First as guest stars in GIJoe and then in their own series.

I wanted Transformers Generation 2 #13 for a lot longer because as far as I was concerned those 12 issues of Generation 2 were Transformers 81-92. I spent years thinking about how the story would go after the Battle with the Swarm. Erasing that from continuity is annoying to be honest. (Perhaps that Zero Space mentioned on the first page means this is an alternate universe not the regular TF Marvel Universe - showing my comic continuity obsessions a bit I know :o)

But anyway. One of my concerns about this book would be whether it would be true to the 80s era or if modern fan desire to see certain characters and later TF canon developments would take over.

At first glance some of that seemed to be the case. The key Autobots in this preview issue include Ultra Magnus (never seen in the US comics) and Hot Rod (with a hybrid comic/cartoon colour scheme) and Kup - only the latter having played any sort of major part in the original run.

But then we see the Decepticon camp, and apart from Soundwave getting a cartoon inspired repaint, the cast seems right. When I saw the latter year Micromasters with him I was suitably impressed. Those are the toys characters that would have been in the comic at the time. The mentions of the Covenant of Primus though shows some later continuity seeping in though.

There's not a huge lot of story inbetween all the recaps, and I think it strange that the ongoing series will, presumably, follow on from the last page event which is an odd place to start. (This chapter would have to be included in the collections). Its also a bit of an odd choice for Free Comic Book Day since a history doesn't reflect the more casual fan's knowledge of G1.

I wasn't sure about Wildman's art but it looks better in print than the preview scans suggest. Overall, the feel of reading this story felt like reading an old Marvel comic, and I was pleased by that. I think this is a series I will buy in store not on the IDW app

My hopes for #81 have been raised and I look forward to picking that issue up.

[GoktimusPrime]

I'd been avoiding all spoilers about #80.5, so I was surprised to see that it's essentially a "G1 recap" issue. Not terribly interesting for those of G1 fans, but perfectly understandable to help casual readers who aren't familiar with G1 to catch up to speed so they can jump straight into #81. And it if you're gonna do a recap issue, might as well make it free! :) I'd be miffed if I'd paid for this issue TBH; but as a free comic, it's fine.

I agree that I would have liked to see the story continue from where G2 ended (and potentially plant seeds for Beast Wars) - but Furman said long ago that he didn't want to do this, and wanted to continue from G1... so like it or not, it was expected. Having said... we did see Jhiaxus there... so... :confused:

As for the future characters like Ultra Magnus, Hot Rod and Blurr showing up, it makes sense -- in the original Marvel G1 comics they came from the "future" time of then year 2006. This story is set in 2012, so 6 years after these characters would have appeared in Marvel G1 anyway; so it makes sense to me that they would be in this story. Certain events that led up to Transformers the Movie probably did not occur (since Unicron was destroyed in 1991) - this is most likely a different time stream from the one that the "future Autobots" originally came from - which is nothing new to this continuity (after all, we had two Galvatrons from two different parallel universes in Marvel G1 ;)). So I guess these Future Autobots will never travel back in time and partake in Target: 2006 and the Time Wars. Timey-wimey...

The art looks great. Someone at yesterday's meet described it as "modern-retro," and I think that's an apt description. It's still very much traditional Wildman, but a touch of contemporary design element in it. :) Baskerville's inking has improved since G1 -- he hasn't drawn spittle everywhere and made everything look saturated! (yay!) :D The colouring is fantastic -- I so do not miss Yomtov's colouring from G1. :p Anyone notice that in the flashback, Soundwave is purple, but in the present day he's blue? Heh. :)

Bring on #81!

[Sam]

I wanted more "new" stuff that wasn't talking about the past.

But I think the purpose of #80.5 is to act as a bridge of sorts, so I guess I understand...

[Cat]

It's funny. I took down my post about this weeks ago.

Now I can feel free to talk about it, I find I've already said what I wanted.

:rolleyes:

[i_amtrunks]

There really isn't much to say about this issue, other than it was a nice memory jog (I really have to go through and re-read the last dozen or so issues again!).

The last page is an interesting starting point, looking forward to the explanation.

Also Prime's flying kick in the flashback was awesome! :D

[liegeprime]

hmmmm and still Rumble is as big as Starscream20+ yrs on ... I guess that's how they remember him... after all it is a flashback recap of sorts... I used to enjoy the angstridden melty face art but hopefully this isn't the case as the story progresses.

[Verno]

Got my hands on a copy today.

It was an odd experience for me to read it. I'm not a comic buyer usually. I own the DW G1 Mini-series and all the BW stuff from IDW, but apart from that, my shelves are bare of comics.

My knowledge of this era in TF history comes from reading thr TF Wiki and asking silly questions (all in an attempt to imbed my own writing within a continuity stemming from G2).

So for Furman to turn around and negate his own work is a little odd to me.

But I enjoyed it well enough. Everything is set up for moving forward, and seems a good a starting point as any.

And I'm enjoying the artwork.

Will I pick up the rest of the run? Quite possibly, though I'll probably read some reviews before acting on my impulses.

[Hursticon]

1st off: An exceedingly huge thanks goes out to Sharky (& Ultra Marginal) for keeping me in mind and obtaining a copy of #80.5 for me, heading my complaints of a lack of a local source for it though at any rate; I was also engaged with 1AZRAEL1's wedding on the day so was never going to be able to acquire a copy myself. :eek::cool::D

I really dug this issue, knowing full-well that it was to act as a bridge between the old and the new and as such really enjoyed the trip down memory lane (Even though it was a short trip seeing as though I only finished reading the original US G1 Marvel run a little under a year ago :p); I love the line-art(?) as it seems to be a refined version of the original's and the colouring is an immense improvement (Baring in mind that even Pat Lee could do a better job than Nel Yomtov). ;):cool:

I feel it did an excellent job at giving a very brief glimpse of the setup for the following 20 issues and I honestly can't wait to dive right in come June/July, especially as it has a certain favoured character of mine center stage and as a clear driving force for whatever is to come next; Of whom's colours I think seem to heavily reflect those of his Action Master incarnation - So could it be that the difference in colouring between then & now is that he has been upgraded to that of an Action Master? :D

[GoktimusPrime]

Just after Free Comic Book Day one of my students told me that he'd picked up #80.5 - so it was interesting to hear an opinion about this issue from the POV of someone who's completely unfamiliar with G1. I explained to him that the purpose of this issue was to get people like him, who have no knowledge of G1, up to speed with the general crux of what happened and allow them to jump into the series. I told him that how people who grew up with G1 like me, find this issue to be just a recap of everything we already know, so from that POV it's not that exciting.

But he told me that he found #80.5 utterly confusing, and he didn't understand what the heck was going on! He said that all he saw was a bunch of various "random" images, but he didn't understand what they meant, like an image of Megatron and Ratchet melted together. I tried to explain it to him, but he was like, "Huh??"

So while many G1 fans like myself are buzzing with excitement about the prospect of ReGeneration 1 -- after all, we signed the online petition to get this running... it'll be interesting to see how this series gels with readers who are too young to know G1. 21 years since #80... wow... there's now an entire generation of people who missed out on Generation 1! :eek: (man I feel old :p)

[Paulbot]

I told him that how people who grew up with G1 like me, find this issue to be just a recap of everything we already know

*snip*

it'll be interesting to see how this series gels with readers who are too young to know G1.

One of the hardest selling points for this comic will be people picking it up thinking it's "G1 continued" when it's not. (They're after Dreamwave's Transformers #1 in it's "G1 cartoon pilot sequel" sense).

There's a lot more people who remember the cartoon than remember the Marvel comic. A lot of people grew up with G1 in 80s and never read the comics but almost certainly watched the cartoon*. There's plenty of members here who are young enough to have missed the comic altogether but did see repeats of the cartoon through the 90s, and had easier access to buy the DVDs than to buy the pricey reprints of the comics.

As I said in my post, I don't think is a very engaging comic for free comic day. They'd have been better off with something TF:Prime related. It's appeal with mostly (solely?) be for the Marvel comics fans.

(*as a side note it would seem that most of us who've been in this mad game for the long haul were fans of the comic back then too)

[kup]

As I said in my post, I don't think is a very engaging comic for free comic day. They'd have been better off with something TF:Prime related. It's appeal with mostly (solely?) be for the Marvel comics fans.

(*as a side note it would seem that most of us who've been in this mad game for the long haul were fans of the comic back then too)

I don't think that we need more TF Prime stuff than there already is. Everything seems to be saturated with it at the moment and if you are not into it, then there is a bit of a drought.

It would be bad to take away what little there is at the moment for someone who does not care about TF:Prime.

[Paulbot]

I'm not saying take the book away, I'm saying it was a bad choice for FCBD. Free Comic Book Day is meant to encourage kids and curious adults to try comic books.

The audience for Regeneration One is long established comic fans who remember a comic from 20 years ago. It's a bad match for the kid who likes the movies or Prime and then has the reaction Goktimus described. Most of the intended audience for this book would have paid for it.
.

[kup]

I'm not saying take the book away, I'm saying it was a bad choice for FCBD. Free Comic Book Day is meant to encourage kids and curious adults to try comic books.

The audience for Regeneration One is long established comic fans who remember a comic from 20 years ago. It's a bad match for the kid who likes the movies or Prime and then has the reaction Goktimus described. Most of the intended audience for this book would have paid for it.
.

I didn't see that many kids in line ;)

I think that it's mostly to do with continuity familiarity as you mentioned earlier rather than age. Most people (even from our age bracket) know G1 from the cartoon rather than the Marvel comics.

However Furman did say that the ReGeneration comics were being written with that in mind so that anyone with just a passing familiarity with Transformers would be able to pick up the plot. I think that's accomplished as most of the free issue was to recap what happened before and anything to do with the 'new story' was pretty straight forward when it comes to plot.

All one needs to know to get into the new story arc is that Autobots won and Decepticons are not happy.

[kup]

It's Re-Generations #81 out yet?

[i_amtrunks]

It's Re-Generations #81 out yet?

July.

Not sure what the release date will be, but with RiD being released first up in June, there has been a reshuffle with the release order. I first thought it might be Regen, MtMtE, RiD, but now it might be RiD, Regen, MtMtE... will have to wait and find out.

[kup]

July.

Not sure what the release date will be, but with RiD being released first up in June, there has been a reshuffle with the release order. I first thought it might be Regen, MtMtE, RiD, but now it might be RiD, Regen, MtMtE... will have to wait and find out.

Cool, thanks. I was a bit afraid I had missed out.

[Sharky]

Transformers: Regeneration One #81

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Sharkysparky/81Covers.jpg

"Loose Ends" Part One

Simon Furman (w) • Andrew Wildman & Stephen Baskerville (a) • Wildman, Guido Guidi (c)

The TRANSFORMERS comic that began it all—is back. With a vengeance! 21 years have passed since CYBERTRON was restored to its former glory, and finally there is peace. But, after millions of years of bitter civil war, can all ever truly be one? In a conflict this primal, this epic and far-reaching… There are always “Loose Ends”!

Cover Price: $3.99 (US)
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: July 11, 2012

Your Thoughts?

[Paulbot]

I read it last night and am still thinking about it. Some things I definitely didn't like, some I did. I don't think it's a great start for a "first issue". (It expects you did read 80.5 and doesn't provide a good recap.) It feels like it stretched out a plot point over an issue when really page 22 could have been page 4. It's decompressed comic book storytelling which doesn't feel like Marvel or the current IDW books.

[5FDP]

As much as I'd like to pick up a copy of this I don't live anywhere near a comic store. Might have to get a digital copy.

[GoktimusPrime]

I quite liked it. Yes, I can see that it would be confusing for people who didn't grow up with G1... but ReGeneration One isn't for them - it's for those of us who were the original fans of G1, so I'm quite happy. :) Besides, the youngins can go buy reprints if they want to catch up on what happened between 1984-91. ;) To me, this comic feels like it's being made for G1 fans rather than having to massively compromise things to make it easier for newbies to follow. If people want to follow a new G1 continuity, then perhaps the main IDWverse comics may be better suited for them.

SPOILERS AHEAD

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/spoileralert.jpg







Having said that, I think ReGen One has watered things down for readers though - which kinda disappoints me. Generation 2 seems to be completely ignored, but I think Furman said from really early on that he wanted to do this as he's never been quite happy with G2 (a shame, I quite liked it and would have loved to see it continued). But it also seems that events from the UK comics -- Furman's baby -- has been thrown out too. Unless somehow guys like Roadbuster, Rack'n'Ruin, Sandstorm, Topspin, Venom and Chop Shop have somehow been revived in the past 21 years since the end of the original G1 run.

It would be a shame if Furman has chosen to throw out the UK stories from G1 considering that:
1/ He always initially intended for them to be part and parcel of the original US series, much like an "expanded universe."
2/ He made efforts to tie the UK stories in with the US stories after he took over from Budiansky.
...so after all those years of attempting to maintain and consolidate continuity between the US and UK stories (which wasn't always successful, but it usually worked out), I think it would be disappointing to give that up now. :(

The appearance of the Sky Scorchers was cool; I like how Furman will use lesser known toy-characters instead of just inventing random robo-mooks like "Noddy" :rolleyes: The overall plot kinda reminds me of Generation 2... Transformers have self-exiled themselves from Earth for a long time while other Decepticons who remain there cause havoc (though for a much longer time and much more massive scale (arguably War World could have done just as much damage if the Autobots hadn't intervened)); Optimus Prime is having spooky visions and sees himself falling... erm. Perhaps Furman wanted to revisit certain story concepts from G2 but didn't want to tie himself to G2? <shrug>

I also like how they haven't conveniently ignored the whole Action Master thing like Marvel did when G2 started... it was like, oh, and they can transform again now. Cos... they can. :p It'll be interesting to see how Grimlock's Anti-Nucleon Quest goes. ;) Also looks like Bludgeon's found Thunderwing... but in exactly what state remains to be seen.

[Seraphim Prime]

But it also seems that events from the UK comics -- Furman's baby -- has been thrown out too. Unless somehow guys like Roadbuster, Rack'n'Ruin, Sandstorm, Topspin, Venom and Chop Shop have somehow been revived in the past 21 years since the end of the original G1 run.

It would be a shame if Furman has chosen to throw out the UK stories from G1 considering that:
1/ He always initially intended for them to be part and parcel of the original US series, much like an "expanded universe."
2/ He made efforts to tie the UK stories in with the US stories after he took over from Budiansky.
...so after all those years of attempting to maintain and consolidate continuity between the US and UK stories (which wasn't always successful, but it usually worked out), I think it would be disappointing to give that up now. :(

My thoughts on how to explain the apparent inconsistency -
1 - The Last Autobot resurrected a lot of characters in the final issue of the original run. Who's to say his powers only extended to those we actually saw alive once again.
2 - Furman's said that continuity details like Spike Witwicky as Circuit Smasher (as opposed to Josie Beller's Circuit Beaker) will be explained in-universe, and that the swirl patterns established in 80.5 will be significant in this explanation. Perhaps that will also extend to characters that should be dead at this point.

[Paulbot]

Since the events of Generation Two comic didn't happen in ReGeneration One, you've already got to assume there's different universes in play.

In my mind, the events of Time Wars created the alternate universe we know as the Marvel US comic: One where Galvatron never travelled back in time after the movie (or during it, possibly). Some UK stories would still have happened (because they weren't influenced by Galvatron's time travel - like the Deathbringer story) but all those deaths in Time Wars didn't happen.


...the swirl patterns established in 80.5 will be significant in this explanation. Perhaps that will also extend to characters that should be dead at this point.

Those swirl patterns could be related to the rift in Time Wars too.

But anyway, that's not really important. It's billed as a continuation of the US comic and that's what is.

I don't have high hopes for the new Wrecker though. He's a random inclusion.

[GoktimusPrime]

I like random inclusions. :) That's something I've enjoyed about Furman's writings -- his teams are often hodge-podge mixes of different toys from different sub-groups, rather than slavishly sticking to only one sub-group all the time. Teams like the Wreckers and Mayhem Attack Squads have always been an assorted mix.

As Jhiaxus (the OTCAer) once said to me, the cool thing about this is that it feels like the teams you make up when playing with your toys as a kid! Often you would have various different members from different sub groups, but you didn't have the whole set - so you bung them together and had adventures with them! Like this photo of me in 1988:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/G1%20toyplay/g1_1988.jpg
^At the time this photo was taken (early '88), I only had Hot Spot, Afterburner, First Aid and Lightspeed. So I bung them together as a their own team, and they formed ... umm... Defensotron... Compusor... that robot dude! :cool: So teams like the Wreckers and Mayhems were kinda like those assorted mixed teams kids would make because they didn't have all of the different sub groups (yet ;)). :D

Perhaps Leadfoot's inclusion is a nod to the movieverse -- because Roadbuster and Top Spin were already members of the original Wreckers, but Michael Bay included Leadfoot who wasn't, so now Furman's including him in this new lineup of Wreckers. <shrug>

[Paulbot]

Perhaps Leadfoot's inclusion is a nod to the movieverse -- because Roadbuster and Top Spin were already members of the original Wreckers

I hadn't made that connection, but of course that makes total sense.

[i_amtrunks]

I think they could have down a single page recap of 80.5 to show the cons wiping out the last autobot.

Love that Regen #81 did a better AHM job than AHM did!

Some very interesting setups that will have a slow burn and payoff. Feels more like the old Furmanverse in IDW than the newer stuff, good to have a change of pace too.

Didn't like it all, but a good restart for those who know about the previous 80 issues, potentially confusing for first time readers! :D

[GoktimusPrime]

Love that Regen #81 did a better AHM job than AHM did!
lol, tru dat. :D


Didn't like it all, but a good restart for those who know about the previous 80 issues, potentially confusing for first time readers! :D
Yeah, but I'm going to selfishly say that I've grown sick of all the various new continuities we've had that reboot and simplify and Gee-Wunnify things for "the newbs" -- I personally think it's really nice to have something for long time G1 fans for a change. My understanding was that this was what was proposed when bassbot and others organised the fan petition to get it happening. ReGeneration One feels like a comic series that long-time G1 fans asked for, long-time G1 fans are getting, and it's written for long-time G1 fans.

When we signed the petition we promised that we would collect this series if IDW made it. I can only assume that IDW received enough votes to make them think that making such an incredibly fan-niche series was commercially viable... I can only hope they're right and that everyone who signed that petition will hold true to their word. I know I will... I hung onto the original Marvel series until the bitter end, and I'll do the same here. ;)

[i_amtrunks]

When we signed the petition we promised that we would collect this series if IDW made it. I can only assume that IDW received enough votes to make them think that making such an incredibly fan-niche series was commercially viable... I can only hope they're right and that everyone who signed that petition will hold true to their word. I know I will... I hung onto the original Marvel series until the bitter end, and I'll do the same here. ;)

I think they will. They are running other comics that have very low numbers in very small niche markets (popeye, GI Joe, muppets, battle beasts) not to mention all the very small markets they have released comcis for (think Galaxyquest!)

I think it helps that the editing and creative teams seem to be lovers of Transformers too.

[i_amtrunks]

I forgot to mention that the final page reveal at the end of this issue made me sad for only one reason.

Spoilers for those who have read the Marvel comics but not regen 81:
It would appear that Ratchet's herioc sacrifice of himself and the ark was for naught. Hopefully the modern love for Ratchet is seen in regen and he too is not dead.

[Paulbot]

I forgot to mention that the final page reveal at the end of this issue made me sad for only one reason.

There's a preview Guido Guidi cover for #84 available now which suggests what the outcome will be revealed to be. Not too dissimilar to the Funpub Classicverse comic's way of dealing with it. And better than the G2 comic that completely ignored it.

[i_amtrunks]

There's a preview Guido Guidi cover for #84 available now which suggests what the outcome will be revealed to be. Not too dissimilar to the Funpub Classicverse comic's way of dealing with it. And better than the G2 comic that completely ignored it.

Here's hoping!

[klystron]

Gosh, I think I'm the only one who really didn't like this comic.

[Paulbot]

I think that's a fair response. Even with nostalgia and wish fulfilment in play for me, I still have trouble saying I "really liked it".

[GoktimusPrime]

Gosh, I think I'm the only one who really didn't like this comic.
What didn't you like about it? Have you read the original G1 comics? I can understand some of the youngins who weren't exposed to G1 being totally lost and not engaged by this comic.

But honestly non-G1 fans aren't the intended audience for this series. This series happened because we G1 fans partook in an online petition and asked for it en masse -- to continue a comic that we loved 21 years ago. And it might be an issue that we may come to appreciate later, cos you know how Furman likes to "plant seeds" for future stuff later on that makes you look back and go, "Aaah, so that's why... ooh, now I get it!" ;) :D Also, G1 ended off badly because Furman had to wrap things up really quickly -- much faster than he expected or had wanted to. Now he kinda has to carefully unwrap things and pick things up again. Hopefully without Hasbro breathing down his neck about what characters to introduce or eliminate and when to finish stories etc. he'll have greater creative freedom to tell good stories (or maybe it was that pressure that made his old stories great <shrug>) -- time will tell. :)

But yeah, this is a comic series that was demanded by G1 fans and made for G1 fans. It is a very specialised niche market demographic, which is probably why most other TF writers steer clear of touching the original G1 lore and just do continuity reboots where they can engage audiences without relying prior knowledge of TF canon etc. This is the first big attempt at continuing on from G1 lore since Beast Wars/Machines... but it's arguably more challenging because it's a direct continuation using the same characters and picking up where G1 finished, whereas Beast Wars was a kind of "indirect" continuation that picked up hundreds of years after G1/G2 ended and dealing with a new generation of Cybertronians.

I like the comic thus far, but I know that it's because I fall within its target demographic range. I wouldn't recommend this series to anyone unfamiliar with G1.

[kup]

Gosh, I think I'm the only one who really didn't like this comic.

I didn't dislike it but it didn't particularly 'grab' me like the MTMTE series has. I fear that Furman has lost his edge but it is still early days to really tell.

Still better than AHM and that Mike Costa garbage that went on for way too long.

[Hursticon]

I liked it plenty! :)

Familiar faces, spades of action, intriguing plot threads & Soundwave! ;):cool:
Oh, and those last 3 pages put a grin on my face from ear to ear. :D

I can't wait for next month's issue & am really thankful that Sharky has been willing to give me a hand with that. ;):)

[klystron]

What didn't you like about it? Have you read the original G1 comics? I can understand some of the youngins who weren't exposed to G1 being totally lost and not engaged by this comic.



I was there for G1. I've got and read all the G1 comix.
But Regen1 still didn't excite me.
Its still Transformers, so I'll still read it, but I'm not feeling it at all.
Maybe I will with time.
Also, even back in the day, I was never a huge fan of Wildman's art. (I much preferred Senior's work.)

[GoktimusPrime]

I was there for G1. I've got and read all the G1 comix.
But Regen1 still didn't excite me.
Its still Transformers, so I'll still read it, but I'm not feeling it at all.
Maybe I will with time.
Fair enough. :) It's still early days I guess.


Also, even back in the day, I was never a huge fan of Wildman's art. (I much preferred Senior's work.)
Yeah, I also prefer Senior's art, but I like Wildman's too. But I can understand why some people may not like Wildman's art because he does try to make the Transformers look more organic. Wildman's always openly admitted that he became a comic artist to draw super heroes like the X-Men rather than robots -- and that was the style he specialised in. So when he got the gig to draw Transformers, rather than trying to modify his drawing style to suit the Dery models, he just drew the Transformers to look like super heroes. :) I quite like it, but I can see how it's not everyone's cube of Energon.

But Baskerville's inking has improved since G1 days -- he's not making everything look saturated and drawing spittle flying out of the Transformers mouthes anymore! :cool: Thuttherin' thuckertash!

[Sharky]

Transformers: Regeneration One #82

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Sharkysparky/82-cover-asm.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Sharkysparky/-82-cover-bsm.jpg

"Loose Ends" Part Two

Simon Furman (w) • Andrew Wildman & Stephen Baskerville (a) • Wildman, Guido Guidi (c)

DINOBOT MONTH! And ex-Dinobot commander GRIMLOCK wishes it wasn't! His quest for a means to restore his ability to change modes takes him to Nebulos - a world off-limits to TRANSFORMERS, where a welcome that's more incendiary than warm awaits him. Plus, KUP and THE WRECKERS find themselves stranded, hunted and in a whole world of pain. Quite literally!

Cover Price: $3.99 (US)
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: August 1, 2012 (US)



Preview at Full Metal Hero (http://www.fullmetalhero.com/content/transformers-regeneration-one-82-preview-4568/)

Your Thoughts

[5FDP]

Avoiding the preview for now as I haven't read the first issue, however I'm really digging the cover artwork :cool:

[kup]

Has issue 2 come out locally yet?

[Sharky]

Has issue 2 come out locally yet?

it hits this week when ever your local comic shop gets them (late wednesday/thursday or friday)

[i_amtrunks]

It should be in Australian stores tonight.

I think the new release schedule is: MtMtE, Regen, RiD, week off.

Or maybe Regen is the first release of the month, doesn't get any earlier than the first!

[Paulbot]

It is out this week, but don't rush.

Issue 82 is disappointing. I'm trying to think of something good about it but it's hard. Some loose ends from the original series are touched on. One I expected (from the #83 cover preview), one I didn't.

I feel like if this comic had come out in 1992 (or 2002) I'd like it more, but compared to the other TFs comics on the market at the moment it's just not holding it's weight.

Spoilers follow

Last week in one issue of MTMTE, Roberts introduced 6 Decepticons and gave them all unique identifiable personality characteristics. In this comic Furman has the chance to introduce us properly to the Wreckers we glimpsed in #81 but didn't. What makes Sandstorm different to Leadfoot and Broadside or Roadbuster? Why should I care about these 'bots?

Worse, Furman resurrects the Decepticons Starscream deactivated in the Underbase Saga as 'zombies'. Ratbat, Octane, Razorclaw - any of whom were established in previous US and UK stories and could hold a story - are reduced to mindless drones. Why not just give Megatron an army of Vehicons and be done with it? Or better yet, block colour them in 80s colouring style since who they are/were no longer matters.

The story feels really drawn out over the two issues so far and the art bothers me a bit too. Nebulos and Earth barely look any different. Hopefully there's some explanation coming in the third issue, and the small cameo appearance might be the answer (I'd laugh if my old fanfic idea came to be). I found Trailbreaker (or should that be random black and red exposition-messenger-bot) out of place too in my mind.

I hope they stop drawing things out so slowly.

On a positive note to end, it does amuse me that Megatron has an Action Master vehicle to ride around on.

[Sky Shadow]

On a positive note to end, it does amuse me that Megatron has an Action Master vehicle to ride around on.

Just a shame it's not toy-accurate. :(

I agree that this was a disappointment - for me, only Grimlock's storyline and Magnus's frustration were of interest. I don't care about anyone else, and that's terrible because twenty years ago, these incarnations of the Transformers meant everything to me. You're exactly right about More Than Meets The Eye #7 and again that sucks because those characters - Krok, Spinister, Crankcase, Flywheels and Misfire - are the exact 'fringe' Decepticons who Furman used to write so well. I think Wildfur would actually benefit from having Roberts as a proofreader to suggest small easter eggs and 'improvements'.

That said, the Wreckers being at the forefront of a comic called Transformers #82 was - deliberately or not - a nice bit of nostalgia. After all, this is an inverted story where Magnus stays on Cybertron while the Wreckers go to Earth. Although Trailbreaker should have been Hound so at least the Magnus scene could have been an explicitly ironic homage to UK #83:

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3040/magnus1.jpg
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/4439/magnus2.jpg

[Sharky]

so far what all is saying is very true to the issue, it was a bland read, not enough focus on grimlocks plot, too much on earth, and for some reason the whole Circuit smasher thing frustrates me already....is he also going to be the key to grimlocks data slug he was watching...

the zombified decepticons makes sense but then doesnt at the same time...and what they have done to ratchet is not nice at all..i do think they need to fill in a few more holes in the past like what happened on earth galvatron for max etc etc..

and for dinobot month there really was not much about dinobots.


time will tell i hope. but MTMTE is still No#1 and RID#8 hits next week and then the MTMTE Annual somtime this month...

[kup]

Just finished reading #82. I didn't mind it, it was decent but again not really much there to captivate. Afterwards I read half of MTMTE #7 and enjoyed that a lot more.

Aside from the art, it doesn't really feel like the old Marvel run either so I am not sure what to make of it.

Like #81, the story wasn't great, just ok but there are a some 'turn of events' that I don't like too much unless Furman is looking to do something interesting with them. The whole 'Earth is apocalyptically destroyed' angle rubs me the wrong way a bit and seems like if it narrows down possibilities of an interesting plot progression like Marvel G1 Transformers in the 21st century which I would have loved to see. We are now basically in 'Mad Max' world which is difficult to relate to (there isn't much) and fills uninspired and constrained.

We are now two issues down and we have more questions than answers without captivation in the narrative and that is not really good.

Still early days but I do fear that Furman has lost his edge as a writer. Nothing really creative or interesting about this, but it isn't broken like Costa's ongoing so there is still hope. Time will tell I guess.

[GoktimusPrime]

I enjoyed this issue. Having the humans being unable to tell the difference between Autobots and Decepticons was interesting - reminiscent of earlier G1 issues, only in a post-apocalyptic setting. The "Lazarus" project seems pretty interesting. :) Circuit Smasher can't be that powerful... otherwise surely he'd have destroyed all the Decepti-Zombies by now (unless his powers have only recently manifested or something).

My gripe about this issue would be this:

and for dinobot month there really was not much about dinobots.
+1 :rolleyes: Sure, Grimlock was pretty decent in this issue, I like how he was presented with a moral dilemma when attacked by Nebulans, but otherwise... okay. I dunno... when I hear "Dinobot Month" I think there's going to be Dinobots -- just like when Discovery Channel does Shark Week, you expect to see lots of sharks. But we just get to see Grimlock -- one Dinobot. Why not just call it Grimlock Month? :rolleyes:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/Photocomic%20Faith/photocomic_faith16.jpg

[i_amtrunks]

Agree that this issue was not to the standards of Roberts writing in MtMtE.

It feels like Furman is going to take half of his 20 issue run to setup and remind everyone of the loose ends from the US run, then finally address them in the last 10.

Issues 81 and 82 could have been pushed into one issue easily enough. I'm amazed there hasnt really been any fallout from 80.5 and that the focus really is only on the wreckers and now a few pages on grimmers.

It's not a bad issue, but is feeling more like AHM/Costa than the "-tion" stories.

[Sharky]

I Jumped onto comixology last night and i noticed that they have not reduced the price for regeneration #81 like they always do with previous issues.. it has remained at the full digital price, i wonder if this will stay that way, which woud be a little disapointing...

i wonder when idw will introduce the free digital code with purchase like marvel and dc are doing now... they were talking about it almost 12 months or more ago..i do buy alot of comic from them so its about time we got fre digital codes!!

[Hursticon]

I received my copy last week, again courtesy of Sharky ;):), and I've got to say that I didn't mind it; I too think that there should've been more focus on Grimlock (Seeing as it is Dinobot Month after all :rolleyes:) but I was pretty happy with the pacing, maybe I've been spoilt by the TPBs but IMO if they were to cram too much into single issues then nothing would get covered properly. :o

Very much looking forward to the next issue, Ratchet's Head being jammed in that sled was awesome - With his perpetual look of agony & fright being of particular delight. :D

[kup]

I received my copy last week, again courtesy of Sharky ;):), and I've got to say that I didn't mind it; I too think that there should've been more focus on Grimlock (Seeing as it is Dinobot Month after all :rolleyes:) but I was pretty happy with the pacing, maybe I've been spoilt by the TPBs but IMO if they were to cram too much into single issues then nothing would get covered properly. :o


Sorry Hursty but I disagree. MTMTE issues cover a lot more in the same amount of pages and leave you satisfied after reading a single issue. The original Marvel issues used to do the same.

It is still early days but if nothing really moves forward by the next issue then things will begin to go downwards. Frankly, I am not really enjoying the story Furman is telling so far, the whole Apocalyptically destroyed Earth rubs me the wrong way and so does 'zombie' Decepticons. There isn't much that is clever about the narrative at this point, I hope that changes.

[Hursticon]

Sorry Hursty but I disagree. MTMTE issues cover a lot more in the same amount of pages and leave you satisfied after reading a single issue. The original Marvel issues used to do the same.

It is still early days but if nothing really moves forward by the next issue then things will begin to go downwards. Frankly, I am not really enjoying the story Furman is telling so far, the whole Apocalyptically destroyed Earth rubs me the wrong way and so does 'zombie' Decepticons. There isn't much that is clever about the narrative at this point, I hope that changes.

That's cool man, as I mentioned - I think I've been spoilt by the Titan TPBs. :)

Admittedly I do wish there was more in the 1st 2 issues thus far but then, I'd also like them to be the length of each TPB (But that's obviously silly talk :p); I'm as newb as they come when the 'Comic World' is concerned, all I know is that I like art & I like Scifi about/involving Robits and these comics tick those boxes. :D

[Lord_Zed]

I finally read the issue, and agree there isn't a great deal happening. it's not a bad issue, it's just not addressing any of the points of interest the previous issues have come up with and thus feels lackluster.

There are all sorts of interesting questions waiting to be answered, such as what happened to earth? what became of some of the Nucleon revived Autobots, where is Bludgeon hiding out etc, but no real movement this issue.

I did kind of like the idea of the Lazarus project, its kind of picking up on an obscure plot point of what became of the Headmasters original heads, though why aliens would name their project after a figure from an Earth bible story is beyond me.

It also seems like Scorponok could be back (in some form), hmm I hope Furman's just not going to bring everyone back or this is just going to get silly. In that regard I didn't actually mind the zombie cons as it allowed us to see some old cameos without the full "Lazarus treatment".

I guess we should be thankfull Furman wrote an issue for Dinobot month without letting Grimlock steal the whole show. :D

[GoktimusPrime]

Just picked up the latest issue... it answers some more questions (but still not all). So we now know:
+ What happened to Earth
+ Where Bludgeon and his crew are
+ What happened to Thunderwing

The issue also reveals the true identity of Circuit Smasher, which I totally did _not_ see coming! :eek: Nice surprise there! The only slightly sad thing about this issue is that it does very conclusive rule G2 out of continuity with this series (aww, I was hoping they'd include it or leave it ambiguous... yeah, I know Furman did say from the outset that he was going to ignore G2. :()

[i_amtrunks]

Loved the reveals regarding Fort Max and Circuit Smasher, I too was not expecting that story.

I like that everything just seems to be falling in place for the Decepticons right now by luck rather than any overarching grand scheme...

Art is very good, both humans and robots look right and are scaled well.

[Lord_Zed]

This issue was better than the previous ones, I like that they explained what happened on earth, and also referenced the Underbase saga from old marvel continuity, as probably the first major bot massacre of the US series it makes sense that it's effects are so far reaching.

I did see Circuit Smashers identity coming, (It's always Spike damnit). I was hoping it would be Buster or Ethan Zachary. :D

Did everyone notice those Neo Knight like silhouettes in one for the flashback panels?

One thing though since when did GB Blackrock become a such a whizz at science? Sure he was always a genius business man, but now he's gone all Tony Stark/ Proffesor X. I guess that's what the apocalypse does to some people.

[GoktimusPrime]

Spoilahs ahead yo






Blackrock sure did look a lot like Tony Stark -- at least he did to me when I was a kid. :p I'm sure one wouldn't go investing and developing so much high tech if he wasn't reasonably cluey about it. <shrug>

As for Hippie-Spike over Buster or Ethan (or Charlie Fong :p), I guess it's because he's the one human on the planet who has Nebulan Bio Engineering in him. It's interesting how they've also explained how binary bonding involved permanent cybernetic implants; because in the original G1 comics - to me at least - it felt more vague... more like "binary bonding" meant putting on a cool exo-suit that let you transform and binary bond with a Transformer -- but otherwise you were just a regular human. And I thought that prolonged exposure to the technology allowed users to form a psychic link with their TF partners which was amplified by the tech. But being cyborgs does make sense, and explains why Sparkplug spiraled into anger and depression after seeing what they'd done to Spike (as well as the ordeal that Buster had been through).

[kup]

I am pretty sure that it was clearly defined in Marvel that binary bonding involved a lot more than putting on a fancy suit ;)

I enjoyed this issue a lot more because it is now putting in a more solid foundation for a story with better links to the original Marvel run. It feels more defined as a continuation now by having GB Blackrock, acknowledging the Neo-Knights (including Circuit Breaker within legal capacity) but most importantly, former big events like the Underbase Saga.

The best thing though is that now the story has gained focus and and it's moving along with good traction. Although I am not a fan of the 'Post-Apocalypse' Earth angle, the explanation in the story was good enough to allow me to accept it and enjoy the story for what it is.

After this issue, Re-Generations has certainly picked up for me. I still have some issues with the story but issue 83 has engaged me enough to anticipate the next issue.

[Paul Agnew]

Got the issue today (along with the missing Captain Atom comic I've been moaning about). The only problem is that they should have called Spike the Circuit Buster as a shout-out to his brother. ;)

[Paulbot]

I'm not impressed by the Underbase Decepticons casualties being in the Ark. Scorponok and Prime had a truce to collect their fallen after the defeat of Starscream.

The only one that makes sense to be aboard the Ark is Ratbat, I can imagine Optimus Prime keeping his body for Ratbat's own safety.

It could perhaps have been forgiven if only Ratbat's former troops were aboard the Ark. Scorponok picking up his troops from Nebulos rather than the regular Earth bound 'cons. But that's just the Terrorocons, who are among the revived army. And he definitely picked up Soundwave (and had him repaired) so why would he not have collected the others?

I always imagined that the Underbase Cons were still in storage in the New Jersey base. Why couldn't Megatron have just gone there to get them instead of Furman placing them aboard the Ark?

Surely Grimlock would have been a bit more careful about reviving the robots with Nucleon if there was an entire army of Decepticons in some of those pods.

I like loose ends being tied off, I did this in my fanfic, so it's annoying that it's not a nice and tidy bow.

They also seem to be setting up a mystery about how Megatron was able to control the Ark. Did the humans never see Ratchet being carted around by Megatron?

And Spike is described as an "old, old ally" of the Autobots by Topspin. An Autobot who's a couple of million years old calls someone known 20 years ago as an "old, old ally"?

There's just so many things about this series that bug me unfortunately.

But I love the Geoff Senior covers. I have to pay more for each issue, but love them.


I am pretty sure that it was clearly defined in Marvel that binary bonding involved a lot more than putting on a fancy suit ;)

Yes indeed. The exact quote is "Joints are replaced, bones are reinforced, armor plates attached until hours later the operation is complete!"

[Sky Shadow]

Unlike the other Headmasters, we don't know exactly what was done to Spike between US #38 (when he just had the helmet) and #39 when he was fully armoured and bonded, but we do know that once he had removed himself from the armour, he could then pretty much instantaneously put those "armor plates" back on, and take them off again, as in #51.

I completely agree with Paulbot about the Senior covers - they're brilliant, and I thought the colouring of #83's made it even better.

[Lord_Zed]

I'm not impressed by the Underbase Decepticons casualties being in the Ark. Scorponok and Prime had a truce to collect their fallen after the defeat of Starscream.

The only one that makes sense to be aboard the Ark is Ratbat, I can imagine Optimus Prime keeping his body for Ratbat's own safety.

It could perhaps have been forgiven if only Ratbat's former troops were aboard the Ark. Scorponok picking up his troops from Nebulos rather than the regular Earth bound 'cons. But that's just the Terrorocons, who are among the revived army. And he definitely picked up Soundwave (and had him repaired) so why would he not have collected the others?

I always imagined that the Underbase Cons were still in storage in the New Jersey base. Why couldn't Megatron have just gone there to get them instead of Furman placing them aboard the Ark?

Surely Grimlock would have been a bit more careful about reviving the robots with Nucleon if there was an entire army of Decepticons in some of those pods.



While I too would have preferred to have the Zombiecons originate from Scorponoks old base, I can't really say it was a big issue for me, I'm glad that they even referenced the Underbase Saga given it's age. Also for all we know when the Decepticons gathered their casualties they may well have just gathered the ones they had the resources to restore and left the rest for dead (they were never the sentimental type). Perhaps the Autobots were forced to clean up the Deception bodies to keep them out of human hands. I would hope their resurrection is not a result of Grimlocks doing though, I don't think they were in the pods like Megatron and the Autobots, I think the Deceptions were in the Arks morgue much like Thundercracker, Skywarp and co after Omega Supreme trashed them.

Of course I could be way of, but that's just why it didn't bug me so much. I personally think the missing key to the puzzle is Shockwave, why wasn't he among the zombie cons? I can't imagine Megatron in his current state being lenient on him for his past transgressions, and he was knowledgeable enough of the Ark's systems to rebuild it. So maybe he's the Ark's new computer? Just my wild theories though.

[Paulbot]

It gets to me because I'm the sort of (obsessive) fan that has spent 20 years thinking about the loose ends after #80 (and G2#12). :)

The Autobots repaired their prisoners (such as Omega's victims) and kept them in life support too (according to Furman's UK #83). In fairness though they might have kept the Decepticon army in a different section of the Ark, and with or without Ratchet, the Autobots were struggling to repair their own troops.

Like I said in an earlier post, nameless, personality less disposable armies might cut it in TF:Prime, but it's a waste of the characters here. It also bugs me that, why not just have the Decepticons not be zombies but just loyal to Megatron? Or kept under control by fear of the mad powerful (Nucleon-powered?) nutbag, but maybe that's getting a bit too close to LSOTW.

I don't think Shockwave's absence is accidental. The answer to Leadfoot's "how did Megatron do all this" is likely a combination of Ratchet and Shockwave. The Classicverse comics had Shockwave's head in a box. Maybe that'll happen again? Or maybe Galvatron and Megatron did actually kill Shockwave when they turned on him before the Ark crashed. Furman never followed up on Shockwave in the G2 comics either.

[Lord_Zed]

Like I said in an earlier post, nameless, personality less disposable armies might cut it in TF:Prime, but it's a waste of the characters here. It also bugs me that, why not just have the Decepticons not be zombies but just loyal to Megatron? Or kept under control by fear of the mad powerful (Nucleon-powered?) nutbag, but maybe that's getting a bit too close to LSOTW.


While I understand and agree about the faceless armies thing,I do actually think in this case just having the Underbase casualty cons resurrected good as new, would be both a little boring and for me undermine the potency of their loss in the original comic series. I must say comic book resurrections have become one of my own personal pet hates. If every single character from the original run is back good as new then, well where's the drama? As any future casualties can presumably can just be brought back to life at a moments notice.

So far aside from Megs, Grimlock, Trailbreaker and presumably Prowl have been the only Nucelon revived Transformers shown, it is hinted that there may have been bad side effects for some of the others. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen, but I certainly hope so as the perfect miracle cure is a lame plot device, the Last Autobot's mass resurrection was bad enough, but at least he's gone now.

Sometimes they just need to let some characters stay dead.

Which reminds me there are or were still a bunch of deactivated Autobots in the Ark when it crashed, wonder what happened to them?

[i_amtrunks]

So this was an obvious setup issue.

Some good scenes for the Wreckers and some foreshadowing with Spike. Nothing surprising or unexpected occurred, but it was a nice enjoyable read.

Art is a mixed bag, the lines seem decent, this as a black and white comic would be very pretty, but the colours vary from bleak and unitonal to a bright plastic sheen, without ever nailing the gritty damaged look I think there are going for.

[Paulbot]

I've not liked this series much, but I did think #84 was the best issue so far. I still think there were problems but the pace was better. Issues 81 to 85 will probably end up reading better as a trade collection.

[GoktimusPrime]

Judging from Starscream's actions, these zombies may not be quite as mindless as Megatron thinks... hmm...

[i_amtrunks]

Writing this as I read and get interrupted by the missus. Spoiler alert. Cbf doing the spoiler free stuf, it dulls the conversation and really those who read this thread are the ones who read it anyway!

So, very annoyed at the skipping around from location to location, I just want the fight between Megs and Prime as well as the secondary Autobot vs. Decepticon zombies fight. I don't care about the battle for the Ark, and I certainly do not give a flying rats about Hot Rod (at this moment in time). I know that both will tie in later and probably directly to the Prime Megs fight.

Now to keep reading, Springer is headless, Kup rusting...

...And that is one short read compared to recent MtMtE and RiD issues, but a good read. Nothing you wouldn't expect, including the return of an old "friend". Kup is Kup, and Furman closes the loops he left on Earth, by effectively making it a redundant and now useless to the story, allowing the focus to return to Cybertron and Nebulos. Only Decepticon left standing may be Screamer.

As for the strands still running, we know have a new (old) con ready to screw up the Cybertronian Con's plans, Hot Rod wasting everyone's time and Maximum Dinobots take 2 ready to begin. Only 15 issues to go!

[Verno]

What is this crack in time? Is it caused by a certain someone's trip back from 2005?

[Sky Shadow]

It's poetic that it was Kup - basically the inverse of Hod Rod's role in Prime and Megs' fight in Transformers: The Movie.

Awesome last page - that's the storyline I want to read.

I really wish Josh Burcham was colouring this whole series (and not just the awesome (http://fav.me/d5kddt9) Geoff (http://fav.me/d5kddqg) Senior (http://fav.me/d5kddmg) alternate (http://fav.me/d5kddha) covers (http://fav.me/d4y4ejs) that are costing me [and Paulbot, I believe] a lot of money to collect). I hate John Paul Bove's colouring - it's too 21st century and literal and doesn't communicate well in terms of different settings. I would rather have Nel Yomtov back than Bove.

[Sharky]

I really wish Josh Burcham was colouring this whole series (and not just the awesome (http://fav.me/d5kddt9) Geoff (http://fav.me/d5kddqg) Senior (http://fav.me/d5kddmg) alternate (http://fav.me/d5kddha) covers (http://fav.me/d4y4ejs) that are costing me [and Paulbot, I believe] a lot of money to collect). .

i love the senior covers and have been picking them up also!! alot of the IDW "RI" recently have been good, better then the black and white or design sketch covers they were spitting out...

[i_amtrunks]

Awesome last page - that's the storyline I want to read.

I just hope it is different enough from Maximum Dinobots, that is the vibe I get (and the same author)


I really wish Josh Burcham was colouring this whole series (and not just the awesome (http://fav.me/d5kddt9) Geoff (http://fav.me/d5kddqg) Senior (http://fav.me/d5kddmg) alternate (http://fav.me/d5kddha) covers (http://fav.me/d4y4ejs) that are costing me [and Paulbot, I believe] a lot of money to collect).

Haven't actually seen any RI covers, which is a good thing for my wallet!

[Paulbot]

Ultimately I'm going to enjoy looking at these comics, because of the Senior covers, but I'm not going to be reading them over and over. As the wrap up to the first "arc" I'm still feeling overall disappointed in the series. Maybe if the colouring was a bit more restrained as Sky Shadow suggests it would work a bit better. Substituting backgrounds for shaded colouring doesn't help. The Transformers are fighting in an apocalyptic Washington DC? Um, yeah's there's a bit of a broken white building (maybe a house) and a road. There's no scale, no sense of place. It might as well be the danger room Kup was training in back in #81.

Using the holographic "Auntie" from one of the most obscure of the UK comic's strips (disregarding annuals etc) was a poor call too I think. I know this book is aimed at die-hards but that's a step maybe too die-hard? Or maybe it just irritates because generally this series is based on the US comic only and other UK stories are otherwise ignored (despite the main reason to care about characters in this story like Springer and Broadside).

One thing I didn't appreciate until the second reading, was that Starscream was the only Transformer to know that Megatron and Ratchet were linked mentally, having witnessed that firsthand. All Kup, and the other Autobots, would know was that Fixit had to save both of them to keep them alive when did the operation, but the more metaphysical bond wasn't revealed until the Autobots were all off the Ark. As readers we've known it for over 20 years but it would be an unknown fact at play in the story to everyone else.

[GoktimusPrime]

I agree about the oversaturation of colours. This comic would probably look better in black and white. :/


Using the holographic "Auntie" from one of the most obscure of the UK comic's strips (disregarding annuals etc) was a poor call too I think. I know this book is aimed at die-hards but that's a step maybe too die-hard? Or maybe it just irritates because generally this series is based on the US comic only and other UK stories are otherwise ignored (despite the main reason to care about characters in this story like Springer and Broadside).
I quite liked it. We die-hards almost never get stories aimed at us, and I'm glad this attempts to do so. Even then, it's still fairly superficial. Cos even people who are ignorant of G1 are till told that AUNTIE is the name of the Ark's computer... and that's all you really need to know. I know what you mean though about picking and choosing which parts of UK continuity to ignore and which to not ignore -- and that inconsistency certainly does bug me too.


One thing I didn't appreciate until the second reading, was that Starscream was the only Transformer to know that Megatron and Ratchet were linked mentally, having witnessed that firsthand. All Kup, and the other Autobots, would know was that Fixit had to save both of them to keep them alive when did the operation, but the more metaphysical bond wasn't revealed until the Autobots were all off the Ark. As readers we've known it for over 20 years but it would be an unknown fact at play in the story to everyone else.
Fixit did say that while he would be able to physically separate their bodies, he would not be able to separate their minds. And Kup and others gave Prime that disapproving look when he still chose to give Fixit permission to separate them. So Kup did have fore knowledge that Ratchet and Megatron wouldn't have been psychically separated.

[Cat]

I'm really surprised at the dislike for JPB's colouring.

He's an incredibly skilled colourist, and I think he's doing a pretty good job, and that he's long overdue for steady work with IDW TF.

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, though. Picking a colouring style to suit the masses is just an impossible task for this project. I've seen his 'proto' work where he was experimenting to find something that worked, and I think he's pulled it together well.

He's trying to give people a mix of what they remember, what they think they remember, and something to differentiate it from regular projects.

[Paulbot]

My issue with the colouring is the way it's working to make up for flaws in the drawings (such as filling in the blanks of backgrounds or trying to add depth to figures who are rather flat).

[Sky Shadow]

He's trying to give people a mix of what they remember, what they think they remember, and something to differentiate it from regular projects.

It's not a matter of memory, though - we can pull out our old comics and look at them. Nel Yomtov was widely held to be a terrible colourist, but I still like his work and would prefer it if this comic had some good block colouring rather than horrific digital smudges in the background of every single panel. The Guidi covers have great colouring. The Senior covers have great colouring. The Wildman covers and interiors are horribly pale - there's no chiaroscuro, it's just blah. I hate looking at Bove's colouring. It's counterintuitive to the whole project.

[Sharky]

#86 is on Shelves i dont mind it i am finding myself not really enjoying it as much as i thought is that because of MTMTE? however i found the clean up operation on earth somewhat un Autobot Like....

And i still think it is the worst ending to ratchets story!!

[i_amtrunks]

#86 is on Shelves i dont mind it i am finding myself not really enjoying it as much as i thought is that because of MTMTE? however i found the clean up operation on earth somewhat un Autobot Like....

And i still think it is the worst ending to ratchets story!!

Agreed with all of the above. It is a very short read compared to the other two monthlies.

The ending for Megatron and Ratchet was not good enough really, and Prime deciding to stay as he is and not get patched up is idiocy. Not sure I like where the Starscream stuff is going either.

For the non Earth stuff is was all setup for the next mini arc. Soundwave made it through too easily and perfectly, he's too clever by half at the moment. Scoroponks stuff was watered down to a quick, "oh look I can do this now because I am so S-m-a-r-t! OH ramifications of my smartness!

Not a bad issue, but not as good a read as it's stablemates.

[i_amtrunks]

#87 out this week. Continuing the Grimlock story, so maybe the end of nucleon and action masters?

[i_amtrunks]

Booooring.

I was expecting something to happen, instead we got "hey, good guys are now bad, grr, go break stuff and kill autobots".

No character development, just happens because the story needed the ex autobots to get there.

The Shockwave reveal was expected and meant the pages dedicated to Starscream and Galvatron were wasted, the whole 3 pages could have been done in 1. Same with ost of the issue, condense it into half an issue and it would flow fine. So many wasted panels.

Speaking of waste, the art is okay for the bots, but the backgrounds are awful. Grimlock vs. Headmasters backgrounds are purple in a silver coloured base... Primus looks ordinary too, and the whole finding Primus story seems like it will be dull too.

I feel sorry for Regen. Anytime in the last 20 years it would have been a decent comic and depending on the release time one of the better ones. However, now it is a very uninteresting predictable story with awful art compared to it's stablemates, even the WFC/Aligned comics.

[Sharky]

Booooring..

i too share this feeling, and is it me or are the heads on the Headmasters wrong, especially Brainstorm and Hardhead... or is that part of the "process"

i did chuckle at the "you try it" line

does it feel like REGEN has lost its way? it really doesnt feel like the old marvel run when you read it at the moment...

[i_amtrunks]

does it feel like REGEN has lost its way? it really doesnt feel like the old marvel run when you read it at the moment...

It feels like an advertisement still, the writing style is more Budiansky than later Furman. It is almost like Furman is using stuff he actually wrote 25 years ago compared to his "-tion" stuff from last decade. He has gone backwards.

[Lord_Zed]

Yeah called Shockwave's involvement waaaayyyy back on this thread.

I concur with much of the previous remarks, it is indeed a bit boring. There's no character development, no increase in tension in the story and little attempt to address past issues from the original Marvel run.

Scorponok is a good example, miraculously resurrected as a stock villain without any of the elements that made the old Scorponok an interesting character.

It feels like this comic is just one big fan service comic showing of peoples favourite characters from the original, without any effort whatsoever to develop them.

I completely agree on the dull backgrounds too, and I don't really understand why, as Wildman used to be able to draw backgrounds. Similarly when characters get shot or fight the art is very simplistic compared to Wildman's old art where the metal was flying everywhere. instead everything looks generic and minimal. Like all his effort was spent just rendering one key character a page.


i too share this feeling, and is it me or are the heads on the Headmasters wrong, especially Brainstorm and Hardhead... or is that part of the "process"



Maybe Scorponok got their Heads confused and put the wrong one on each body? you can hardly tell them apart from their dialogue. It's even weirder when you consider they showed Brainstorm with his proper Marvel head a few issues ago.

[Paulbot]

I've never liked the backgrounds in this series. They always look a bit wrong. But reading this issue I wonder if it's more a lack of the characters filling the spaces well. Everyone's generally got a slim humanoid frame rather than a robot body. And the bodies are all the same height. Maybe those Triggerbots got an upgrade? Things like Grimlock's back kibble and Starscream wings are really small too. The robot don't seem to fill the frame they way they should. And what was with the literal key being turned on Perceptor's chest to make him "evil". That was just a bit too silly.

The Earth stuff, the lets go into the sewers stuff, all just had me wondering "why?". Optimus retiring on Earth to help a few human survivors who don't want his help? Galvatron pops up now of all times? And why did the reformatted Cybertron retain "badlands", "demons" and secret sewers?

It would have been a lot more interesting if the Autobot Headmasters were on Scorponok's side not because they were "turned evil" but because they wanted to be. They were left behind as heads for two decades (in jars like Futurama?!). Plenty of time there to sour on the Autobot cause.

Or the story thread I would have gone with: these three Headmasters literally have no soul. Their sparks were in their bodies (and we're reminded in Perceptor's analysis of Grimlock [if it hasn't come up before] that the Marvelverse bots now have Sparks) and those are extinguished/part of the Matrix. All that's left is their minds and perhaps a Transformer with no spark loses good emotions like compassion.

One good thing about All Hail Megatron, was the take it took with the Headmaster process, that it violated Sunstreaker so much he wanted revenge on the whole planet Earth. Sure it undid the good working relationship between Sunstreaker and Hunter from Maximum Dinobots, but it made more sense then "oh and now Brainstorm is evil".

Or what the hell, why not just use the cartoon's hate plague to make all the Autobots bad and mad. Colour everyone red so it really feels like a G1 Marvel comic! :)

I agree with I_amtrunks completely, this series doesn't hold it's weight against MTMTE/RID.

[GoktimusPrime]

Colour everyone red so it really feels like a G1 Marvel comic! :)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/iseewhatyoudidthere.jpg

[i_amtrunks]

Scorponok spouts some stuff, Grims gets some pain, Soudwave is in league with Bludgeon trying to create a robotic army (coz that won't come back to bite them :rolleyes:).

Hotrod goes on the last crusade and finds appropriate weapons.

Autobots get turned with some keys, get half a panel to see their backs.

The big Shockave reveal is forgotten until the final page... Galvatron spouts some stuff too.

Poor Misfire, here I was thinking he may get to be a star in 2 comics at the same time!

Another setup issue, payoff may begin next issue, but knowing Furman and his love of doing everything in the last issue of an arc I expect next issue to mostly be fluff too. It's a short read compared to it's stablemates and has not got any shock value.

[i_amtrunks]

It continues to be a short read. If you read the preview, its like half the comic is already done and released. It just does not feel like it is worth the price compared to MtMtE or RiD.

I like the path they are taking HotRod down at the moment, but I wonder if the three stories are one (possibly two) too many for Furman right now. The comic just plods on, taking four issues to setup for one overpacked rushed issue of fighting.

For a comic that was meant to show the Dinobots cleaning house, it was one poor and anticlimatic fight that was obvious from the get-go how it would end. It felt like I've seen it before, Maximum Dinobots etc. We saw nothing that wasn't obvious from Shockwave's POV, we get it, Megatron tuned him into the Ark to run his systems.

Add to this, the rather idiotic giant key, Prime doing his best sadsack sobbing (couldn't even read it in Primes voice, it was that bad), and Hotrod turning into a planetwide cleaner... it just feels scrambled and listless.

I hope the ext mini arc improves on this one, it has been weak and overall; mostly to get everyone back to Cybertron for Bludgeon and Soundwave to fight next.

[GoktimusPrime]

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/porquenolosdos_zps1a557cca.jpg

[i_amtrunks]

Aft grabbing the disc, it looks as though Hotrod does have the sword as well...

[GoktimusPrime]

So what was the point of that whole "weapon or knowledge?" indecision scene then? :confused:

[kup]

does it feel like REGEN has lost its way? it really doesnt feel like the old marvel run when you read it at the moment...

To me this doesn't feel like the old Marvel run at all. It's lacking the balance of telling an epic story with character development and much needed comic relief that was once there. As it is now these issues are readable but rather bland and stale.

I can re-read the Matrix Quest and much of the Furman run of Marvel G1 and still enjoy it while I can't say the same for Re-Gen.

Yeah Furman does seem to have lost his way when it comes to TF storytelling :(

[Sharky]

So what was the point of that whole "weapon or knowledge?" indecision scene then? :confused:

Through Knowledge it was determined he was to finish the job of primus.

the scene i imagine was to build suspense......which is extremeley lacking.

to me regen feels like an excuse to kill everyone off and at titles end everyone will be reborn to a new golden age of cybertron for the cycle to start all fresh...

brainstorms head annoys the absolute crap outta me too...

[Wheelie]

I'm liking the series, it's got good and bad points, but overall it's a good continuation of the original series. It's also what got me back into collecting.

[griffin]

Just read Volume 1 on the flight from Adelaide...

Good...
- Story was good enough to keep me reading the entire thing without feeling the need to put it down.
- I was a fan of Wildman's art in the last few issues, so really loved the look of this, at it really felt like I'd just picked up an old issue from the 80s. I didn't have to "adjust/interpret" the completely different visual style of different artists, like I have to do in recent IDW comic series.
- I liked how Furman was able to incorporate a number of UK comic concepts within the plot, without forcing them too much. And his solution to the Circuit Breaker legality issue (preventing them from using her without paying Marvel for it... cheap bastards), was creative and plausible. But since it wasn't necessary (the character didn't need it, and wasn't very powerful) it felt more like a cheap imitation, than a homage to Circuit Breaker.
- I think the compilation had most of the various covers, which was a welcome bonus, as I liked *some* of the Geoff Senior covers, but would never buy all those extra expensive copies just for one piece of artwork. I was also thankful that the compilation had the #80.5 Free Comic Book Day issue as well, as it saved me the hassle of finding it (comic shops are few and difficult to get to Brisbane).

Bad...
- The Optimus philosophy rambles. After a few of them I just started skipping past those big bubbles and just read what other characters were saying, to get the basic idea of what he was going on about.
- Ignoring the events in the Gen2 comic was necessary, but the story direction doesn't feel right, as it doesn't feel like it was where the original Gen1 comic was heading in the issues before #80. I would have preferred to see the story pick up from where #80 left off, with no 21 year gap. The way this series has been set out, it feels more like Dreamwave's follow-on Gen1 series, but I guess that was considered strategically necessary, to capture new readers who don't know anything about the original 80 issues.
- Not a fan of ret-conning the Headmasters story, by claiming that the heads were copied, not used as the bio-suits. It now means we could have duplicates of all the Headmasters, not just the ones that were dead. I guess Furman loved Scorponok too much to let him stay dead.
- I didn't like the idea of lobotomising all of the Decepticons, as most were loyal to Megatron... and I won't like it if they are fully restored very easily, as a lobotomy shouldn't just be something simple like unplugging a wire. I didn't see Shockwave anywhere though, and he was in the Ark with all the other "resurrected" Decepticons. I can't imagine Furman would have forgotten him... he's likely to be somewhere pivotal for a future story arc.
- I found it very difficult to believe that the Autobots would have left Earth unattended or unobserved during that entire time, or even leaving all of their "trash" behind. I know it was a good plot device to use the left-over junk and characters on Earth, but the end of #80 suggested that the Autobots were keen to clean up the mess of the Decepticons and their war, and then return to Cybertron.
- It was sad to see Ratchet being reduced to just a disposable head for Megatron's usage... and just as sad to see him being terminated, as he was a key character since the first issues, right through to the end of the original series. Very few other characters held that record. He was like Rhinox in Beast Wars, and similarly got the shaft too cheaply.
- The thought of having the series ending in 20 (and a half) issues time makes me sad though, but if he can give it a good ending, it might be worth the 20+ year wait. Then again, I didn't mind how the original series ended.

[Sam]

Okay I have a question about issue 90...

-SPOILER-
The panel where the Decepticon gives the password in Japanese, which I think is: 10-9-8-14-20-10-4

is there any significance to this string of numbers and/or the fact that it's apparently in Japanese?
- END SPOILER -

[Paulbot]

"Arc 2" is complete and Regeneration One halfway over. And I'm not disappointed by that fact. This is not the comic I was waiting 20 years for.

I don't know Japanese but Sam those numbers look like close enough to 1984 and 2010 that I'd guess that's what they were going for.

Can't wait for Guido Guidi to take over the art. They should have done that from the start.

I'm not sure what IDW was thinking have two comics come out on the same day that both feature Grimlock fighting Scorponok.

If you ever have to choose a 5-issue comic book story written by Simon Furman where the Dinobots dislike Grimlock and Scorponok is plotting and Shockwave is lurking in the background and Hot Rod is on a quest: choose Maximum Dinobots. It's worlds better.

[i_amtrunks]

If you ever have to choose a 5-issue comic book story written by Simon Furman where the Dinobots dislike Grimlock and Scorponok is plotting and Shockwave is lurking in the background and Hot Rod is on a quest: choose Maximum Dinobots. It's worlds better.

Agree with all of what you wrote Paulbot, but thought this hit the nail with the hammer best. This whole run has felt "samey" like we are reading a shadow of previous stories. Hopefully the next ten issues are a big step up, but I don't really like it.

I think I am also less enthused for the next few issues knowing at some point Grimlock and Scorpy will have a big return fighting off the big bad together. Furman will never let Grimlock just disappear. (Plus we know he lives in Beast Wars).

[griffin]

I think Transformers comic writers, after 30 years, are stuck with "damned if they do, damned if they don't" situation.
If they keep reusing the classic Gen1 character traits, character "relationships", and concepts, it can get boring, lazy, and even confusing if there are month/year gaps between reading issues/arcs.
But, if they don't use the classic Gen1 elements that we know and are used to (or expect), it looks and feels too wrong for the fans to accept, and it becomes a vocalised hatred/complaint of that series... prompting future writers to not risk it. (I remember how Armada Starscream was rejected by fans because he wasn't a traitorous backstabber... he was a loyal Decepticon, who then sided with the Autobots because he was too honourably loyal for the Decepticons)

[i_amtrunks]

I agree with you Griffin about the writers being in a no win situation, and Furman doubly so since it is a continuation of Gen 1. However I don't feel this is the issue with his writing since starting regen.

It's more that I feel I have read it before, and it was by him so it feels almost exactly the same. The characters of Grimlock, Scorponok, Prime and others seems okay and ties in mostly well with what we were dealt with in the US Marvel run, it's the actual plot and the blow by blow of the story that feels samey.

It's like he used all his cool G1 stories in things like the spotlights and maximum dinobots and then didn't tweak them enough for regen.

[GoktimusPrime]

...so if this is meant to be a continuation of the G1 US comics, rejecting the UK expansion... so how come AUNTIE exists (existed)??

[Sky Shadow]

...so if this is meant to be a continuation of the G1 US comics, rejecting the UK expansion... so how come AUNTIE exists (existed)??

Nothing in the US comics contradicts Aunty - why shouldn't she exist?

[BigTransformerTrev]

"Arc 2" is complete and Regeneration One halfway over. And I'm not disappointed by that fact. This is not the comic I was waiting 20 years for.

I'm not sure what IDW was thinking have two comics come out on the same day that both feature Grimlock fighting Scorponok.



Yeah, while I love them fighting, I read ReGen 90 and Monstrosity 4 on the same day - it was really weird!



I agree with you Griffin about the writers being in a no win situation, and Furman doubly so since it is a continuation of Gen 1. However I don't feel this is the issue with his writing since starting regen.

It's more that I feel I have read it before, and it was by him so it feels almost exactly the same. The characters of Grimlock, Scorponok, Prime and others seems okay and ties in mostly well with what we were dealt with in the US Marvel run, it's the actual plot and the blow by blow of the story that feels samey.



Agree, I just read 90. I've only read about half of the original comics but this just felt like 'been there, done that'.

[GoktimusPrime]

Nothing in the US comics contradicts Aunty - why shouldn't she exist?
Well that's pretty much the core point the UK comics, isn't it? With a few notable exceptions such as the Earthforce Saga, most of the events in the UK comics don't contradict with events in the US comics as they were originally intended to be in the same continuity. It just seems a bit odd that Furman is now choosing to disregard certain elements from the UK comics, like the Time Wars, but yet choose to keep other elements like Aunty. There's nothing about it that contradicts continuity... but it just seems odd to me that Furman would 'haphazardly' select certain elements of the UK continuity to keep and others to wantonly discard. :o

[Sky Shadow]

#91 was an improvement - hopefully the final run to #100 will be old school and stellar. And Eugenesis Plaza was a nice tribute.

[i_amtrunks]

So while I cannot say the "twist" at the end of #91 was a complete surprise, it was nice to see it happen. This issue was a lengthier read, a good "reset" issue after the anticlimatic last few issues. I guess the whole Scorpy-Grimlock thing needed to happen to setup their triumphant return in #99 or something, but it wasted 5 issues we could've used to get to this "new" story.

Seems like Furman can only rehash his post G1 stories, lets hope this new new one is better than ReGen1 Maximum Dinobots.

[i_amtrunks]

I enjoyed 92. It is still not a patch on MtMtE, but one of the better regen issues.

Take away the Prime and Hoteod stuff which was purely there to pad out the mostly self contained story and it was good. The deceptions never felt like much of a threat, but it is explained why such a small party was sent anyway. The final page was glorious and a fitting end for Wildman to leave the series.

Furman has taken his time getting back into the stride of generation 1, but it bodes well for the last 8 issues and the side issue.

[Cat]

I really enjoyed #92.

My favourite issue so far, and a really solid issue overall.

Absolutely love the RI cover.

[Sharky]

I really enjoyed #92.

My favourite issue so far, and a really solid issue overall.

Absolutely love the RI cover.

i think the RI covers on all the issues are the best, i would like idw to release the whole set as enlarged prints in a slipcase format with and autograph or three

[Paulbot]

Guido Guidi's first issue didn't impress me. I wish he'd stuck to his faux G1 style instead of drawing this in Wildman's current style. It's so similar it will not be jarring in the collection, but I really like the style he's been using for the covers and that Generations book strip. Or maybe it's Baskerville's inks that are the problem. I dunno.

The most interesting thing was Hot Rod's vision but it seems out of place in this series to reference so much that came after G1.

Rack'n'Ruin cover though is very nice.

[i_amtrunks]

Guido Guidi's first issue didn't impress me. I wish he'd stuck to his faux G1 style instead of drawing this in Wildman's current style. It's so similar it will not be jarring in the collection, but I really like the style he's been using for the covers and that Generations book strip. Or maybe it's Baskerville's inks that are the problem. I dunno.

The most interesting thing was Hot Rod's vision but it seems out of place in this series to reference so much that came after G1.

Rack'n'Ruin cover though is very nice.

All of this is what I was thinking too. Guidi has done a masterful imitation, but I wouldve preferred his take on G1 rather than his copying of G1. That being said I loved his shot selection, especially in the opening pages.

After reading a few non spoiler reviews from US sites, I was expecting more from this issue storywise. I think MtMtE has really ruined me for other comics, I expect so much and for it to take 15 minutes to read an issue that when I am done a whole regen comic in 5 I feel cheated!

Proper Furman story, proper Furman pacing. really getting all his ducks in a row before knocking them down over the next two issues.

[GoktimusPrime]

I agree that Guidi did a fantastic job in emulating Wildman's style (further enhanced by Baskerville's inking). I guess Guidi wanted to maintain visual continuity between his and Wildman's styles (IDW themselves certainly don't seem to give a flying Rattrap's about design consistency :rolleyes:). I loved the toy accurate Sandstorm! :D

And yeah, the retro-style art with the flashbacks to #80 was heaps cool. ;) Also great to see the asteroid smasher and Mark V droid making a comeback. Poor Cosmos. :(

[BigTransformerTrev]

I really liked seeing all the different multiverse Hot Rod/Rodimus/Rodimus Primes appearing, though because of the poor graphic style you had to have a hard look at some to tell who was who (Animated & Energon were very easy to identify, took me a minute or two to figure out that one of the front guys was the alternators version). That said, I thought the graphic style suited the first page perfectly with the future demise of Bludgeon.

As Gok said, poor old Cosmos. Little bugger never stood a chance.

The Warworld is looking pretty good, haven't really seen much of it since I first picked up a G2 comic. They had a Warworld on Young Justice: Invasion the other week and I was very vocal that DC has ripped of the TF's yet again! :p

[i_amtrunks]

Another fairly entertaining issue. The big fight between UM and Galvatron took up a fair chunk of the issue, but it was well worth it. Too many nods to Target 2006 to mention.

All the other bits between flowed well. I is a very short read compared to MtMtE but it works in its favour this wek as the flow is continuous. You go seamlessly from the big fight to all other areas of Cybertron. After all the build up of Prol as a cunning bugger in recent times,it is almost quaint to see him as depicted here.

Soundwave vs Blaster looks entertaining (but likely short lived, there are only 5 issues left) and the IDW Furmanverse homage to Omega vs Monstructor looks like it'll be interesting as well.

To finalise, the team has pulled off a very entertaining and easy to read issue that really picks up after the dull Grimlock vs Scorponok stuff we sat through, merely so old Grimlock could become a temporary vessal for Primus.

[GoktimusPrime]

yeah, I'm enjoying this more than the Grimlock/Scorponok arc. The Ultra Magnus/Galvatron fight was cool, but kinda felt a bit too similar to Target: 2006 to me. And the killing Magnus becoming an omniversal constant... umm... this is Galvatron II. We've never seen him kill Ultra Magnus before; even assuming that he killed Ultra Magnus from his own reality... that's one more. It was mostly Galvatron I who kept on beating the crap out of Ultra Magnus over and over and over again, but Galvatron II should have no memory of this since he's from a different universe. Unless he counts killing Ultra Magnus for a second time as an 'omniversal constant.' He's insane, so who knows. :p

Nice to finally see Monstructor make his debut in original G1 continuity... even if it's 24 years later. :p

[Cat]

Another great issue in a row. That makes it 3 killer issues in a row.

Notice Guido's little Easter Egg? The Warworld's missiles that hit the ground and turn into the hunter droids are the exact same shape and colours as the silly old GIG G1 Italian TRASFORMERS missiles.

Pretty cool little Easter egg, for such a ridiculous real life thing.

[kup]

Good issue. It's now beginning to read more like the original Furman run of the G1 comics!

[BigTransformerTrev]

The ReGeneration '0' issue didn't really add much to the storyline. Just filled in the odd gap here and there, discussed a few things for those like myself that have somewhat hazy memories of the old issues, and took the chance to introduce Jhaxius and turn Hot Rod into Rodimus Prime. Not bad, but the few issues before have been far superior.

[i_amtrunks]

#0 was a hard issue to track down due to it's collectability!

Not much happened really, showed us some stuff from marvel UK, the final part of car wash of doom, Jhiaxus being a genius of evil and a parallel universe. Not much to relate to the "current timeline".

Art was spectacular, I cannot believe one person was responsible for colouring the entire issue.

If you miss it, you missed nothing really, I was expecting a little more meat to the issue, but it was easily one of the shortest reads I have had, even from regen.

[GoktimusPrime]

Not much happened really, showed us some stuff from marvel UK,
Despite previous issues contradicting Earth-120185. I thought ReGen One exclusively occurred on Earth-91274. Then again, Earth-91274 did show a brief flashback to the Firebug story, so it's likely that the Firebug story did also occur on Earth-91274 (but not other events from Earth-120185 such as the Time Wars etc.). That's what I assumed anyway.


the final part of car wash of doom,
Yeah, it was interesting seeing Buster grown up and married to Jessie, as well as the events leading up to Megatron's Decepti-Zombie Apocalypse. It also answers the question as to what the hell Fortress Maximus was doing... although not a terribly awesome answer; I was hoping to see Fort Max go down in a blaze of glory (forcing Spike to abandon him and Cerebros; maybe Fort Max would've ejected him to save his life). Meh.


Jhiaxus being a genius of evil and a parallel universe.
Is that what it was? Cos that scene did feel a bit weird for me, but I assumed that what Jhiaxus destroyed was merely an avatar of Boltax, but not Boltax himself since Boltax himself is the entire temple itself (though Jhiaxus and the others may not have known that since it was a guarded secret). But then again, ReGen One is supposedly ignoring G2 continuity so... AAAARGH!!!


Art was spectacular, I cannot believe one person was responsible for colouring the entire issue.
The use of different artists for the various mini-arcs was interesting. :)

I'm also not entirely pleased that they've decided to 'reset' the issue counts at #0. I've quite enjoyed how ReGen One continued the count from where G1 ended... I hope it's just for this issue and the next issue isn't going to be #1. :/

[i_amtrunks]

Is that what it was? Cos that scene did feel a bit weird for me, but I assumed that what Jhiaxus destroyed was merely an avatar of Boltax, but not Boltax himself since Boltax himself is the entire temple itself (though Jhiaxus and the others may not have known that since it was a guarded secret). But then again, ReGen One is supposedly ignoring G2 continuity so... AAAARGH!!!

Jhiaxus destroyed the whole "covenant of wisdom" in the G1 comic universe. The parallel universe was purely the "1986 movie-esque" scenes near the end.


I'm also not entirely pleased that they've decided to 'reset' the issue counts at #0. I've quite enjoyed how ReGen One continued the count from where G1 ended... I hope it's just for this issue and the next issue isn't going to be #1. :/

They merely used the #0 to give themselves more story-telling time. Back to #95 next month.

[Verno]

With #95 out last week and only 5 Issues to go, does anyone want to throw around some theories about how this is all going to wrap up?

[Paulbot]

My guess: big cosmic reset button and then Generation 2 occurs as previously told.

[Verno]

My guess: big cosmic reset button and then Generation 2 occurs as previously told.

Is that even possible? The G2 Comic never smoothly followed the G1 stuff as it was. I don't think ReGen1 was designed to create a bridge between the two.

[Paulbot]

The G2 comic did follow on from G1 pretty well with the exception of where some minor Autobot characters ended up and what happened to Nucleon.

The overarching story seems to be that time/space is broken and that something needs to be done to fix it, which suggests that ReGen One is wrong and will be undone in the end.

Which would be usually be annoying to me, but I really don't care. The series has disappointed me too much, and I feel like I'm only buying this series out of duty now.

[i_amtrunks]

The series has disappointed me too much, and I feel like I'm only buying this series out of duty now.

I've not enjoyed it as much compared to its sister titles, but it reads like a decent continuation of Marvel G1 with a modern day focus on 5 issue "stories".

As for the series itself, I don't know if it is time itself that is wrong and that Regen 1 will be undone, as much as the planet itself is wrong and needs a cleanse. I'd love something other than a Decepticon purge or a watchful peace, but I wonder how limited Furman will be by the license.

[Verno]

I'd be interested in a summary of what's disappointed you in the series Paulbot.

[Paulbot]

Trying to sum it up, and it's hard not to rant. Basically though, this isn't what Marvel's #80-100 issues would have been like, and since that's kind of the whole gimmick it's disappointing. It doesn't compare favourably to other TG comic books, including all of Furman's own IDW series. The art has been poor, but improving. There's far too many interchangable cannon fodder characters (nearly everyone except the predictable ones) and ruining of characters that were stars in Furman's US run (Megatron, Scorponok, Ratchet, Thunderwing). It's gone too far off what the book might have had in it Earth and most of humanity destroyed. Of course Furman did go to this plot in Generation 2 as well but only when the book had already proceeded on it's way to oblivion. The familiar beats from Generation 2 (Megatron controlling the Ark, Bludgeon and his Warworld) make this series more like an alternate take on G2 rather than a continuation of G1. It might read better once all finished and collected but month to month feels so needlessly drawn out.

[griffin]

I have similar disappointment, in that I wanted to have issue 81+ be what Furman originally had planned for the original 81+. I wouldn't have cared much if it rewrote Gen2, because if the comic had continued its run, it wouldn't have introduced Gen2 toys/characters until right at the end anyway (as issue 100 would have been in early 1993, just as Gen2 was about to be released... and the Gen2 era of comics began in mid 1993 anyway).
This Regen-1 series just feels too much like "retcon" after 20 years of fiction and fan stories and theories.... which is not what fans of the original comic probably wanted to see. They signed a petition, and wanted to see, a comic that continued the original series as if it had never been axed.

Aside from that, my other element of disappointment is the story structure, and the way it is done to conform to fit TPB reprinting.
I am a fan of individual story issues of Budiansky (in the original series), and I am a fan of the continuous story arc of Furman (in the original series) that keeps building momentum to sporadic climaxes (like issue 75). I am NOT a fan of story arcs that reach climax every 5 or 6 issues, and lose momentum by starting a new chapter/arc every 5 issues... just so that they can later sell a TPB that reads as a stand-alone "issue".
So far, the RG1 comic series looks more like four single, long, issues... which feels like we have been short-changed by 16 issues. (in my opinion)
When the series started coming out, I really wanted it to be like the Furman run of the original series, in that I would be excited enough to chase up each issue as they were released (because I wanted to find out what happens next)... but now I'm content to just wait for the TPB to be released months later and just read each "chapter".

[Paulbot]

I have similar disappointment, in that I wanted to have issue 81+ be what Furman originally had planned for the original 81+. I wouldn't have cared much if it rewrote Gen2, because if the comic had continued its run, it wouldn't have introduced Gen2 toys/characters until right at the end anyway (as issue 100 would have been in early 1993, just as Gen2 was about to be released... and the Gen2 era of comics began in mid 1993 anyway).
This Regen-1 series just feels too much like "retcon" after 20 years of fiction and fan stories and theories.... which is not what fans of the original comic probably wanted to see. They signed a petition, and wanted to see, a comic that continued the original series as if it had never been axed.

Aside from that, my other element of disappointment is the story structure, and the way it is done to conform to fit TPB reprinting.
I am a fan of individual story issues of Budiansky (in the original series), and I am a fan of the continuous story arc of Furman (in the original series) that keeps building momentum to sporadic climaxes (like issue 75). I am NOT a fan of story arcs that reach climax every 5 or 6 issues, and lose momentum by starting a new chapter/arc every 5 issues... just so that they can later sell a TPB that reads as a stand-alone "issue".
So far, the RG1 comic series looks more like four single, long, issues... which feels like we have been short-changed by 16 issues. (in my opinion)
When the series started coming out, I really wanted it to be like the Furman run of the original series, in that I would be excited enough to chase up each issue as they were released (because I wanted to find out what happens next)... but now I'm content to just wait for the TPB to be released months later and just read each "chapter".

Yep, if Scorponok and his magic key that turns Autobots evil had been one issue (or maybe two at most) it wouldn't have been as annoying as it wouldn't have taken up a whole quarter of the series.

Other IDW TF series (and comics in general) have this approach but it's become less common. MTMTE and RID have had arcs but generally each issue or two issues have made up a story. It makes this series a bit old fashioned (but more 2007 and not 1992).

[Verno]

Has anyone read #96 yet? I picked up a copy from Minotaur this morning, but it's the silly blank Cub Cover version. I was gunning for a Cover B.

[i_amtrunks]

Has anyone read #96 yet? I picked up a copy from Minotaur this morning, but it's the silly blank Cub Cover version. I was gunning for a Cover B.

Got the America blank cover. Can't remember what it was for, but the missus said it was the only cover that they had for sale.

Issue itself was more setup fodder. Just enough new stuff to keep me slightly interested, but I fear that once again thee are not enough issues tore solve what has been setup. Did we need 5 issues of Scorponok wasting our time just to get Grimlock down into Cybertron? Those issues could have been used to better the series rather than wrap nicely into a trade paperback issue.

I'm guessing the corrupted matrix energy is what seeped into Fort Max and it'll take spike to fix it. That will solve two of the issues in one swoop and I am sure Jhiaxus and Galvatron will overlap at some point for more anticlimactic battles in issue 100.

At least the handover from Optimus to Rodimus was succinct. Nightbeat and Bumblebee would have great potential if there was room for this series to expand or grow In a natural way rather than be shoehorned into finishing at 100.

[Paulbot]

I got the black and white Senior cover but had to leave it unread at the office on Friday night. I'll have a read tomorrow.

[Verno]

I've been reading up on the fandom's response to ReGen1, as a whole, on some other international boards and the attitudes towards the series are quite negative -- all except the IDW Boards themselves, where people dare not say anything negative, (I assume) in fear the Artists/Writers/Producers themselves are reading the comments.

I haven't read Marvel TF 1-80, I haven't read any of the UK stuff but I jumped on board the ReGen1 boat from the beginning and I've quite enjoyed it to be honest. For me (who'd like to do some work in the comic industry) it's 3-parts education, 7-parts entertainment.

I don't have the connections to the original stuff, which seems to be an advantage given some fans' reactions to the series, yet me being drawn to it is counter-intuitive given that the series wasn't really designed for new fans like me -- it was meant to be for the older, long-suffering fans.

4 Issues to go and I'm excited to see how it all wraps up. 4 Issues is still 88 pages of story. If I can tell the entire Csirac story in 4 Issues, a master story-teller like Furman can weave some absolute magic.

[Sharky]

I think Regen was short shipped this week I know my local only got a hand full,of regular issues and some incentives. Wasn't a bad read tho nebulous is back in the mix and some othe interesting bits to come. While it is a set up issue I feel like it was one of the stronger issues

[Paulbot]

4 Issues is still 88 pages of story. If I can tell the entire Csirac story in 4 Issues, a master story-teller like Furman can weave some absolute magic.

There's some of the problem. You could tell much more story in 88 pages than we'll actually get. MTMTE does it all the time. This series spends 110 pages on stories he could actually do in 22 or 44 (and would have done in the 90s).

[Verno]

There's some of the problem. You could tell much more story in 88 pages than we'll actually get. MTMTE does it all the time. This series spends 110 pages on stories he could actually do in 22 or 44 (and would have done in the 90s).

My point was more along the lines that there is a hell of a lot to tie-up in the remaining 88 Pages of this series, and it'll pretty much be balls to the wall from here on out -- well, maybe one more set-up issue -- we can't start fighting Jhiaxus straight away.

Jhiaxus
Galvatron
Spike
Evil Matrix Creature

And let's not forget the crack in time!

My fingers are crossed that all the waiting will have been worth it. I mean, this isn't an on-going, so the entire series has been building towards this apex, purposefully. Furman's known the ending all along, and has been moving us towards it step by step, unlike an on-going, which builds to 'moments' but has to keep going, no matter what. ReGen1 is special in that is will actually end.

[Paulbot]

My point was more along the lines that there is a hell of a lot to tie-up in the remaining 88 Pages of this series, and it'll pretty much be balls to the wall from here on out -- well, maybe one more set-up issue -- we can't start fighting Jhiaxus straight away.

Jhiaxus
Galvatron
Spike
Evil Matrix Creature

And let's not forget the crack in time!

I think it will seem a bit rushed honestly. Still, I should read #96 tonight and see.


My fingers are crossed that all the waiting will have been worth it. I mean, this isn't an on-going, so the entire series has been building towards this apex, purposefully. Furman's known the ending all along, and has been moving us towards it step by step, unlike an on-going, which builds to 'moments' but has to keep going, no matter what. ReGen1 is special in that is will actually end.

It never ends




:p

[Verno]

I think it will seem a bit rushed honestly. Still, I should read #96 tonight and see.

Jam-packed for sure, but hopefully not rushed.

Furman's had 20 years for the ideas of what the original Marvel story could have been to swim around in his head, so when the opportunity arose for him to give it a proper ending through these 20 Issues, I'm sure he's been able to craft it carefully, even with the restraints of having to write with the trades in mind, which has been a lot of readers' complaints.



It never ends

If my theory is correct, it both will and won't end. But I'll save that for when you've read #96.

[Paulbot]

Haven't opened the book yet to look inside, but was quite pleased to see Sludge get a feature cover, and in robot mode too!



It never ends


If my theory is correct, it both will and won't end. But I'll save that for when you've read #96.

That was a Marvel G1 / Simon Furman comics joke :)

[i_amtrunks]

I've been spoiled by MtMtE.

Regen 1issues are read and done in barely minutes, with so little seeming to occur, be revealed or interesting quotes being made. It feels more and more like Furman has nothing new to reveal, only referencing his previous work, or making pop culur references (Technodrome anyone?)

I will continue to read until the end, but it is taking so long to setup for so little payoff. These 5 issue arcs have worn me down to not caring, knowing most of what happens in the first four is mostly setup fodder for a lacklustre, limp conclusion.

[i_amtrunks]

Okay, this issue was the exact opposite of most of ReGen 1. Lots happened in very quick succession, not a panel was wasted. In fact the action occurred too fast, the pacing should have been changed alot to give the events of this issue at least another issue to flesh out.

Always sad to see an original character go in such an insipid (or useless) way.

[Verno]

A theory:

On Page 20 of Issue #98, 'Starscream' says "We are four. But we are incomplete. We seek... the fifth."

We're all assuming they are:


Next, Hot Rod is whisked to Nova Cronum during the pre-war days of Cybertron, and observes as a Transformer who he has never heard of, identifying himself as Jhiaxus meets with the High Circuitmaster Boltax and three other members of a "Brain Trust". These five, dubbed the "five greatest minds" on the planet by Boltax, are uploading their combined knowledge into a database they call the Underbase—but Jhiaxus, tired of Cybertron's policy of isolationism, takes control of the process and "slays" the others' mental projections, incapacitating them.

Those guys from Issue #0, right?

The number 5 jumped out at me. Where else in recent IDW Comics have we come across the number five?

The Guiding Hand.

The universe hits the big reset button and everyone is consumed by the 'crack in time' we seem to have forgotten about. Everyone is wiped out except for these 'five' (four of whom seem to be inside of Starscream) and the IDW-verse begins, with this Guiding Hand starting off a new Cybertron. No Primus, no Unicron and the power of the Underbase is poured into a new Matrix.

That's perhaps the craziest theory out there atm. I don't even believe it myself. I've always thought the Guiding Hand to be the Quintessons, who used the story as part of their control of the early Cybertronians.

[i_amtrunks]

My assumption was that they were the 5 that Jhiaxus murdered in #0 that somehow trapped their essance into the Underbase.

Guess we do not have long to wait and find out! :p

[Ravagecat]

Just read 96...sorry a bit behind :o
Thought it was kinda convenient that Jhiaxus shows up (end 95 I think) just after bumblebee and Nightbeat send out a probe and what not. :rolleyes:
The Morphobots make me a bit nervous for one cybertronian race...they kinda look like a cross between a Cylon and the T1000 :D
I'm finding the story so far ok, but agree with some of you that mentioned that the story seems tainted by new ideas and concepts created in the transformer universe after the original marvel story that ended at issue 80.

Not sure if it has been mentioned in any other thread but I did notice at the end of 96 (in the ads) that a certain Bossbot from the board got a mention for attending the IDW VIP tour back in May 2013 :D:cool:

Griffin come on Down... :p;)

[Paulbot]

Read #99. Cool Shockwave cover. The Galvatron cover is nice too.

But aside from the covers? Awful. Just dreadful, anticlimactic and boring.

Will #100 bring it home strong? I hope so but my I doubt it.

[i_amtrunks]

Read #99. Cool Shockwave cover. The Galvatron cover is nice too.

But aside from the covers? Awful. Just dreadful, anticlimactic and boring.

Will #100 bring it home strong? I hope so but my I doubt it.

I was hoping that you were mistaken, but I should know better by now.

Anti-climatic and dull, all to tie up a loose end that was not the most important one to wrap up, and would have better suited a 5 issue arc than the Scorponok arc.

Too much to do in the last issue unless miracle after miracle occurs. Even a double issue wouldn't be enough and I think it is only a standard comic.

[Verno]

There seems to be two (but perhaps even three) distinct forces at work in ReGen1 -- Primus, Unicron and the Dark/Anti-Matrix Energy Monster.

Primus did genuinely take over Grimlock's body back in Issue #94, and then took Hot Rod through the multiverse to give him information, as well as the Matrix, to transform him into Rodimus Prime in #0. It's been said in the series that 'energy cannot be destroyed', so perhaps Primus survived his 'death' in Issue #75 of the original Marvel run and is now trying to get his 'plan' back on track. Why I believe this to actually be Primus (and not the energy monster tricking Rodimus) is because of the distinct change in speech pattern.

I believe that plan to be the minds of the Underbase becoming something of a replacement for Primus himself. The (now) five minds in the Underbase become The Guiding Hand of the IDW universe.

The Dark/Anti-Matrix Energy Monster Thing wants to expand its reach into the entire multiverse, instead of just being contained in the Marvel universe. Sounds similar to what D-Void wanted/wants from what I've read on the TFWiki. Perhaps using Spike as a host, it can traverse the 'crack' in space and time and thus spread.

Ultimately, Rodimus will make some kind of sacrifice or drastic decision that leads to the Energy Monster not succeeding, this time. But he can't destroy the monster outright because 'energy can't be destroyed' blah blah blah. The Marvel Universe becomes the Dead Universe.

Unicron is having a last hurrah, and has taken over Galvatron's body. "One will become all" was a line in a previous Issue (just after the head in the Primus chamber killed all the Unicron Cultists) with emphasis on the 'one', perhaps. Could this not just be the Energy Monster as well? Maybe, yes, but we had Unicron threatening Optimus Prime right the way back at the start of the series and we've not seen hide nor hair of him since.

[Verno]

Too much to do in the last issue unless miracle after miracle occurs. Even a double issue wouldn't be enough and I think it is only a standard comic.

It's a double-issue, so there is hope.

[Paulbot]

Marvel Universe becomes the IDW Dead Universe? Instant reaction was interesting idea, but on further thought the Dead Universe was around 7 million years ago so, shifting timescales aside it doesn't really work.

I still expect some sort of cosmic reset button but we'll see.

[Verno]

Marvel Universe becomes the IDW Dead Universe? Instant reaction was interesting idea, but on further thought the Dead Universe was around 7 million years ago so, shifting timescales aside it doesn't really work.

I still expect some sort of cosmic reset button but we'll see.

I never saw the Marvel and IDW universes running parallel, but rather one ends and then the next begins. The Marvel universe 'dies', the Guiding Hand (Underbase) creates the IDW universe and on we go, with the Marvel Universe remaining as the empty 'Dead' Universe.

But you're right -- there is a big reset button-mashing coming up.

[Paulbot]

I never saw the Marvel and IDW universes running parallel, but rather one ends and then the next begins. The Marvel universe 'dies', the Guiding Hand (Underbase) creates the IDW universe and on we go, with the Marvel Universe remaining as the empty 'Dead' Universe.

The collection of Hot Rods from many dimensions (issue 0 i think?) suggests they are all parallel. ;)

[Sky Shadow]

This is all I want to see in #100...

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/9499/4a5b.png

[Verno]

The collection of Hot Rods from many dimensions (issue 0 i think?) suggests they are all parallel. ;)

Perhaps, but 'Primus' took Hot Rod to see Galvatron kill the Rodimus Prime of another universe, which we could assume happened at another time, as that Galvatron might be the time-travelling one now seen in ReGen1 (or something), which would mean they're not running parallel.

[Sky Shadow]

This is all I want to see in #100...

Or I would be happy with this...

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/8247/32d8.png

[Paulbot]

So, that's done now. Nice special features in this, a more effective goodbye from the creators than Furman's essay in #80. Some nice pages from Geoff Senior and maybe it's the because of the break, but Wildman's pages where better than I expected.

But the story? Well I would like someone to explain a couple of pages to me that I thought made no sense. And why do I feel like Furman is giving the finger to other creators and being selfish? The more I think about the comic I just read the more I dislike it.

Well it's over now. The final issue didn't resolve any of my previous complaints about this series. I won't be wishing for a #101.

[Paulbot]

I've written much more, mostly complaints, that I need to sharpen up into sentences before I post. I do look forward to seeing if other people thought of the ending (to see if it's "just me or...").

[Verno]

I'm not going to lie - I was a little underwhelmed.

The issue certainly rocketed along at a cracking pace, but to the extent where the deaths of Galvatron and Fort Max just sort of happen and are done in a panel or two.

So does Rodimus from the main IDW-universe remember his little trip into Zero Space? And the others? And how did they get home if the crack closed? In fact, how did anyone get out if they closed it from the inside? Are they confining the dark energy monster to the zero space or to that universe which is now disconnected from the rest of the ultiverse?

Why deliver Rodimus the weapons to destroy you in the first place, monster? Why did you need a Matrix, monster?

It'll take a couple more readings, but it was a less than exciting outcome.

[i_amtrunks]

That was horrible.

I get that ending this beast would always be difficult, and likely the ending would never be pleasing, that is the nature of the end, but that was truly awful

Blaming the monster (what the hell even is it?) for everything that had happened felt cheap. The deaths of Galvatron and Fort Max were underwhelming and had no energy to them. I thought for a few pages that Animated Rodimus was the star (or some other multiverse version) due to the weird art shift.

I could barely follow it, I have no idea how everyone but a Rodimus left zero space, or what went on at the end, I'm confused and it sounds stupid, but I feel cheated that this is how the 100+ issue comic ends. I had hopes (not high) for regen and it completely failed to deliver in any of the 21.5 issues it had to recapture the feel and scope of the original.

Came back with a whimper, died with a whisper.

[Sky Shadow]

The best part of this series was Geoff Senior and Josh Burcham's covers - it's a shame everything went downhill between those covers. I wish it had actually been a continuation of Transformers from #81 as it would have been and had been set in 1991, (and been coloured by Burcham or Guidi instead of Bove, so it actually looked like a nineties comic.) I mean... an Ark full of Nucleon-fuelled Transformers crashed on Earth in #78, and #81 would have been a poetic parallel to #1, with the Autobots, Megatron, Starscream and Shockwave waking up (and having to deal with losing their altmodes.) And then it could have progressed in 'real time' introducing some of the 1991 toys over the first twelve or so issues and the 1992 ones in the last eight. Instead, we got this clusterfudge.

I loved the last panel, though.

[i_amtrunks]

After a second read and some checking up of events from the comics referenced within I think I have more of an understanding of the going ons.

Still alot I don't like, but the multiverse stuff, and that G1 is now a singularity apart from the rest was an interesting twist that could only really have happened with the massive real time gap between 80 and 81. I actually like the ending more now that I figured out what I think happened, having 12 pods was a nice nod too.

It is a shame that most of the 21 issue run of Regeneration 1 could have been tossed aside or shrunken down to not fill the modern 5-6 issue arc for trade paperbacks and there could have been a better handling and pacing based more around this final issue. A good issue or two devoted just to tying up events on Earth, another for Nebulos and maybe some more time in the 80's issues for seeing what megatron actually did on Earth and to better resolve the rime/Megatron fight.

[Verno]

This whole 'writing for the trades' thing confuses me. Beast Wars: The Gathering and The Ascending were both collected into trades after they finished, but each miniseries was only 4 issues, so the trades only had 4 issues. Perhaps if ReGen1, with it's 20 issues, was divided into story lines/trades of 4 issues each, it would have given more scope for everything. Issue #0 wouldn't have been necessary as more time could have been given to the stories it contained.

#81 - #84 - Loose Ends Parts 1-4

#85 - #88 - Natural Selection Parts 1-4 (Yay, less time wasted here!)

#89 - #92 - Destiny Parts 1-4

#93 - #96 - ADDITIONAL STORY!!!

#97 - #100 - The War To End All Wars - Parts 1-4

But if they were that desperate to get five issues into each trade, then why not pad them out with an issue of the original run? They reprinted issues #76-#80 in the '100-page spectacular'. That's 5 issues. Why not have put one of these original issues in each of the subsequent trades? Then, IDW get to sell 5 trades instead of 4! That's good business sense.

[Paulbot]

So it's not just me then. Good. Here's some more of my thoughts on ReGeneration One #100 and the series as a whole.

Art

As with Sky Shadow, I've loved the Senior/Burcham covers. Best thing about the series. And who'd have thought we'd ever get a cover of Huffer punching Snarler on any comic.. Guido does some fantastic retro art (the stuff in Generations, his variant covers for this series), where was that on the inside?

Inking takes some blame here I guess and colouring to a degree. Check out the pages Senior drew in 100 and inked himself. Suddenly everything looks better, smoother, shinier. I thought it might be a different colourist, but no it's just the art's not "dirty" with scratches and damage. Wildman did some nice work in #100, the spread of Cybertron on pages 2 -3 is quite nice but also a bit of a waste of two pages when things get crowded at the end.

Characters

Throughout the series many G1 characters made first appearances, and were then killed. Others got to turn up just to be named and killed in the same panel. The vast majority of characters became red shirts. Just in the final issue we see Tailgate, Streetwise, Slingshot, Hosehead and Iquanus, none of whom I think have had dialogue this whole series, turn up to be name checked and killed. Oh and everyone else on Cybertron (except the Dinobots and Ravage) were, it seems killed, off panel. Although it’s not clear if a shadow leech could be returned to life. This death count includes Soundwave turned into a parasite hunting Ravage in a two page backup prose story. Good end to one of most recognisable Decepticons and a character that had been around for most of the 100 issues huh?

What about other prominent heroes and villains from the Marvel series? Well Ratchet, the underdog hero that bet Megatron several times, was used as a chair by Megatron and euthanised. No heroic ending for him then. Blaster, rebellious Autobot warrior got some magic sound powers. Bumblebee, he was around but didn't have a lot to do. Shockwave? Another slave of Megatron's who helped the Underbase Starscream and then when off and visited the Dock people of the planet Hickeridickeri. Bludgeon got to retread his story from G2. Jihaxus got to retread his story from G2. Scorponok got to come back as a mad scientist with a mad cartoon scheme and die, pissing over the most emotional part of the whole 80 original issues. Most of the G1 Decepticons you remember? Mindless zombies. Fort Max and Galvatron both killed in #100 so quickly it's hardly noticed.

And Optimus Prime. Heroic leader of the Autobots. Very much the star of the G1 Marvel comics. What's the end of his story? Retires to Earth to help rebuild it, sucker shot by Fort Max, possessed into attacking Rodimus, breaks free to pass on the secret to winning and then dying. I guess that's kind of like Dark Awakening but at least cartoon Prime got a second chance after that. ReGen Prime goes out with a whimper. He doesn't even get to be one with the Matrix because Rodimus just broke any link to TF heaven. He's just gone. Cold and brutal way to end that hero's tale.

And Megatron? He did his best Overlord impression and did mass killing (nearly all of Earth's population) looking for some attention. A way to show Megatron is so evil but also gone a quarter of the way through the story. Also a bit of a drastic approach to "we don't want stories about humans" isn't it? The majority of Budiansky's run on the book (love it or hate it) was about the way TFs interacted and influenced (and were influenced) with humans they met. Well sorry readers they are all dead. Buster, Jessie, "O"? Dead. Bomber Bill? Dead. Skids' friend Charlene? Micromaster cohort Cecilia Santiago? The Robot Master, The Roadjammers? The cast of MonsterCon from Mars? Even those Spacehiker kids? All dead. Plus you and everyone you've ever met.

Plot

The last issue tried to explain how all the four previous stories worked together, and you know what it might read better as a whole now. But what a chore to get here. Verno's suggestion of shorter arcs would have been much a better approach.

And plot elements? Nucleon didn't strip TFs of their Transformations. Hot Rod ran around the sewers with those demons. Scorponok came back with an actual physical key that could be inserted into Transformers to turn them evil. This was the worst plot element of all and instead it could have been an interesting ongoing subplot: Autobots acting a little more aggressively, or wildly, acting out of character, eventually revealing that Cybertron itself was infected by the Dark Matrix energy and that was the reason behind it.

So the ultimate bad guy of ReGen turns out to be some residue of the Matrix/Deathbringer never seen before, never even hinted at existing before that 0 issue that came out late in the series run. Yep that's a loose end we needed to have invented and then closed off.

Rodimus calls on the multiversal equivalents to take up some pages I guess. Lost Light Rodimus and Animated Rodimus and the rest don't seem to do anything of any real value. I don't think they'll remember as I don't think they are actually there. I think they are manifest copies and that's why they disappear when the link to the multiverse is cut. Did Rodimus stab the Dark Matrix creature? Or the rift?

It took me a few reads of #100 to work out what was going on with Spike and what he did to change things. I first thought he blasted something, there's some energy discharge, but I couldn't figure it out. But it seems that he was a nexus being (a combination of Human, and Transformer and Nebulon tech) and so his negative emotions were feeding the dark creature and making it more powerful enough to open the rift.

Impact

The final victory comes from Rodimus disconnecting the ReGen universe from the rest of the Transformers multiverse. Primus wants to create a unified single perfect universe with the best of all the Transformers multiverses. Is that "Generations"? Is that "Aligned Continuity"? Is Primus really a stand in for Hasbro!?!

Was Furman saying the G1 comic universe is some sort of special ground he wants no one else to touch ever again. By in canon separating it from the multiverse, no one else can touch his characters or write over his stories? Is it a meta manifestation of GeeWun mentality!

Or, on the other hand, did Furman realise that ReGen was a bad idea, the storyline a bad continuation of G1, so bad and corrupt that the ReGen universe should never been seen again and everything in it should die away!

Fortunately there's another TF universe where the G1 comic and then G2 comic happened and that was untouched by ReGen Rodimus Prime's actions, and another where the G1 comic and the UK G1 comic happened, also untouched. Good thing the TF multiverse is big enough that G1 comic + Regen comic can be seen as a timeline that needed pruning to protect the greater good of TF continuity.

I prefer Verno’s theory, that this creates the Dead Universe (not Shockwave's actions with time and space in Dark Cybertron) given the way the Transformers aged and decayed after being separated from Primus. The two stories are happening so close together that maybe they will be related in some way.

In conclusion

And then in his final word Furman says this is not the story we would have told in 1991. Well **** you, that's the story I signed the petition for. That's what we were promised and what we wanted, but instead we get a story of the Matrix's evil child causing chaos and destruction, 80% or more of G1 characters killed, 99% or more of earth's population killed, and an apparently happy ending that has the human survivors living on Nebulos, and the Autobots taking interstellar vacation until they all die of old age.

The original issue #80 was rushed, but it ended with the promise of life going on. The new issue #100 ends with the promise of death for all. Bummer of a way to finish the story. I guess it's a literal way of treating this as "the end".

I get the impression that if you've never read a TF comic since 1991 you might love this. If you've never read a comic at all since 1991 you might love this. But with so much better TF fiction out there, including other work by Furman and Wildman, I couldn't recommend this series to anyone. I wished for it a long time ago, but some wishes shouldn't come true!

[Sky Shadow]

The majority of Budiansky's run on the book (love it or hate it) was about the way TFs interacted and influenced (and were influenced) with humans they met. Well sorry readers they are all dead. Buster, Jessie, "O"? Dead. Bomber Bill? Dead. Skids' friend Charlene? Micromaster cohort Cecilia Santiago? The Robot Master, The Roadjammers? The cast of MonsterCon from Mars? Even those Spacehiker kids? All dead. Plus you and everyone you've ever met.

This is a really good point, and another reason why the story should have continued in 1991 [so the humans would have been a) still alive and b) not twenty years older]. For me, cameos from any of those humans would have been welcome. Single-story Budiansky-style issues, no matter how camp or ridiculous would have been welcome. Solid characterisation of individual Transformers would have been welcome. How is it that Furman often used to achieve more in six black-and-white pages than he did in entire issues of Regeneration One?

[i_amtrunks]

Rodimus says that the Transformers became peace-keepers/ moderators of the Universe after the rift closed, showing Screamer and Shockers only (with Ravage). With those the only surviving Cons and all of about 20 Autobots left, it is barely worth mentioning, unless all the space demon tendrils reverted back to their original forms (which I do not think happened.)

4 issue arcs still would have been too long for everything but for the War to end all wars, which couldve easily doubled to 8 issues to be covered properly.

I still think this was not a fitting end issue; however, the end panels and idea (G1 comic being split from the multiverse) were certainly nice and nifty.

I think that most people who signed the petition (if they already werent) would be ticked off for not getting the conclusion they wanted back in the 90's.

[Sharky]

EVERYTHING

i agree with you there Paul with everything,

after reading through this series getting alll covers i came out the end disapointed....

and the thing i am most disapointed about still is that first arc where megs was just written of then incinerated along with all the other cons and some bots..

Ratchet the Autobots greatest Hero didnt get the ending he deserved it should of been him who took down megatron not become some head on a throne it should of been that one final battle between the two which could of finished with ratchet holding his head to megatrons and kill them both using that link they shared and terminating them both... hero stuff not just like all those times megatron suffered defeat by his hand and underestimated the doc.

as for the rest of the series i wouldnt know where to start

well summed up Paul..

[Verno]

So the Dark Matrix Energy Monster (DMEM {I wonder what they'll call it on the Wiki, as it's never really given a proper name}) was the one whispering in Prime's ear during his meditation in #81? Not Unicron.

It uses the line 'Evil is infinite', and that's a curiosity.

The first use of that line in TF history was in the final issue of G2, with the reveal of the Liege Maximo. Now, look at the Liege's head, and the head of the DMEM. Consider also that the Liege Maximo wanted to ascend to godhood (according to Alignment) and the DMEM wanted to do something similar.

I can only conclude that these entities were originally one and the same. Furman had plans for this DMEM a long while ago it seems, but over the years his thoughts on how to use it changed.

[GoktimusPrime]

It uses the line 'Evil is infinite', and that's a curiosity.
This line made me cringe. True evil doesn't recognise itself as evil. That's what makes IDW (and even BM) Megatron such interesting villains -- they don't see themselves as villains, but as heroes.

I also concur with Paulbot's review. And yeah, good to know that at least Earth 120185 is still untouched, but an alternate version of Earth 91274 (let's call it "Earth 91275") is forever changed. I say alternate because it does ignore G2 continuity, which AFAIK should still have occurred on the original Earth 91274. So arguably Earth 91275 (events of US G1 comics sans G2 plus ReGen) is a separate reality from Earth 91274 (US G1 + G2, but not ReGen) anyway.

[Verno]

This line made me cringe. True evil doesn't recognise itself as evil. That's what makes IDW (and even BM) Megatron such interesting villains -- they don't see themselves as villains, but as heroes.

To quote the Liege Maximo in G2:

You cannot destroy evil. It exists always as a counter-force. A balance in nature that is always maintained...

Thus, when the first named Prime was created, so was the Liege Maximo

You are right in what you say about villains like BW/BM Megs - that they're deliciousness comes from their perspective of the universe. But the Liege Maximo is speaking on a much larger scale - in fact, he essentially makes up half the scale himself; the evil half.