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Post by Kingoji on May 26, 2010 17:18:17 GMT
It's something that has never been answered definitively, but I'd say the closest analogy is mind and spirit. Two things seperate but linked. The Spark seems to contain the 'whole' of a Cybertronian's life-force, but in it's pure form the concepts of personality and thought are more abstract. A removed Spark is still aware, but perhaps it depends on the individual as the clarity it retains. Many have described Spark separation to be merciful, even euphoric, as though the consciousness is adrift in an ocean of peace and harmony. That would suggest that it is several steps detatched from reality, yet Shockwave was able to be exact in his calculations of time before being rejoined with his body. This is either because a) his mind is so focused and clear and free of emotion that Spark removal was literally the removal of mind from body, or b) his Spark was never actually removed. All we saw was his body being reassembled with the statement akin to "Only now do you reunite me with my body". The way one could look at it is that when a Spark is within a body, it is not simply the pulsing centre some think of it as. It needs to be contained within a 'Spark Core', which is probably more than a simple casing, but an interface between Spark and body. Maybe the purpose of a Spark Core is to essentially disperse the Spark throughout the body in a form similar to our central nervous system. It is primarily routed through the brain module, which then diverts it throughout all other essential systems. The Spark is Matrix energy, and could be considered the source of intelligence, passion, personality, everything which makes up an individual rather than an automaton, but being routed through a brain module seperates these elements and gives them isolation and purpose. This way, destroying a brain module before it has the chance to shut down would kill the Spark. Similarly, Stasis Lock could be the action of returning all of the Spark energy to the Core. The body could then be totally destroyed, but as long as the core is intact the individual will live. And having the Spark Core forcibly removed is not lethal, but could be viewed as the same as a marionette having it's strings cut, only far more painful. Further, Dinobot would have died because he burned up too much of his Spark Energy in combat, when it should have been returned to the Core for preservation.
Dunnolol.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on May 26, 2010 18:11:42 GMT
Back when people were reconciling the Marvel comics with Beast Wars / Beast Machines, the way I thought of it was that at some point in the future the Transformers evolved and learnt how to concentrate their Matrix energy (which, since it can't be random energy, I thought of as a swarm of nanobots) into a glowy sphere called a spark. And when they went back in time to prehistoric Earth, the Maximals and Predacons could use their spark powers to focus the Matrix energy of the Autobot and Decepticon leaders into sparks too.
But I could still never figure out what sparks were _for_, given that in the comics they didn't have them, and could survive without them (in toy cars, floppy disks, crystals and the Internet), so long as their Matrix life programming remained intact in whatever form.
I dunno why the Beast Wars creators came up with sparks in the first place. In a sci-fi series about sentient robots, why not just stick to software and hardware? If you want to do floating soul-type things, you can do that without robots.
Ah! I remember now! They _have_ done it without robots. Larry Ditillio worked on Babylon 5 before he worked on Beast Wars. The season one B5 episode 'Soul Hunter' had aliens trapping souls in the form of floating glowy spheres, just like in Beast Machines. That must be where they nicked it from.
Martin
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Post by Shockprowl on May 26, 2010 18:39:26 GMT
Planning to get this on trade, but just out of interest, what part, if any, does O'Prowlio play in this? Owt or nawt?
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Post by grahamthomson on May 26, 2010 18:45:43 GMT
Planning to get this on trade, but just out of interest, what part, if any, does O'Prowlio play in this? Owt or nawt? Ho boy! You are in for a treat as far as Prowl is concerned. DON'T WAIT FOR THE TRADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by The Doctor on May 26, 2010 18:55:14 GMT
Prowl has a small but extremely important role.
Re-read #5 last night. It's Eisner quality.
-Ralph
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Post by Shockprowl on May 26, 2010 19:12:23 GMT
Cool! Thanks, Doc'!
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Post by grahamthomson on May 26, 2010 20:23:50 GMT
The other half of your user name may also make an appearance...
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Post by legios on May 26, 2010 22:19:15 GMT
And so unto issue five of Last Stand of the Wreckers, both an ending and place from which we can see the whole design. And what a design it is. I am a great believer in content, in stories being about something and on that front this issue stands, emblematic of the whole series, and hold its head proudly.
The pre-release publicity for this series would lead you to believe that it has been an action adventure story about elite Autobot commandoes storming a prison that a powerful Decepticon warlord, but that is only the story that we have been fed on the surface – underneath LsoTW has been something else, and that after all is the point. With this issue it becomes abundantly clear that Ironfist's hobbyist role as the Wreckers' unofficial historian and biggest fan isn't a bit of character colour, it is instead central to the real point of the series. We've witnessed a slow peeling back of layers as we come to see the differences between the stories that we tell to others, and to ourselves and the truths that underly them. The distinction between the stories that Ironfist tell us of Springer and Impactor's stand at the battle of Pova, and the killing of Squadron X and the truths that we and Ironfist learn from Aqueitas exemplify the this distinction.
This theme is laced right through the issue, and the series. The Wreckers mission, at first appearing as a daring rescue by a band of edgy heroes is revealed as a grubby, sordid smash-and-grab to disappear evidence that could embarress the Autobot cause. But in the same way it is echoed by Overlord's self-delusion, with him neatly skewered by Verity we realise that Overlord's entire life is built on the story that he tells himself of Megatron and he as arch-nemeses, destined to meet in a final showdown of ultimate destiny, and his world begins to collapse when he realises how far that fiction is from reality. Pyro, who has been existing for the sake of a story he tells himself about his own ludicrously glorious demise weighs that fiction and faces up to the reality of the situation, choosing to sacrifice himself for his comrades and in the end going to a less showy but perhaps more heroic end than he had ever envisaged. (There are so many other examples throughout the series that I could have cited – the peeling back of the myth of the Autobots fighting a noble war for thousands of years with clean hands and shiny paintwork for just one).
At the same time though the narrative acknowledges the power of story. We'd all, as readers, like to believe that the Wreckers were better than the heavily armed thugs that we have been shown that they were, more like the edgy heroes of Ironfist's stories. There is something almost perversely uplifting about the fact that the choice Verity spurs Ironfist to make, and Impactor's later decision not to kill a helpless Overlord is in some metaphorical sense a choice to let what the Wreckers really were die in order to preserve the idea of them. Having faced the reality of what has been done, and the fiction that has been spun from it they are both uniquely placed to chose which is the more worthy to exist. Mirrored in the revelation that others were prepared to sacrifice lives in order to preserve the Autobots' internal narrative about who they are, and to hide the reality of what has been done in their name. Is the database destroyed after the closing scenes of the story? I think it is better that we are left without knowing, left with the question of whether the Autobots will have the courage to face up to the reality of what their war has done to them or whether the facade will be allowed to remain in place. We've had so many answers to that question in the course of this issue – Overlord robbed of the fundamental pillars of his worldview when faced with reality, Pyro choosing to throw away his delusion of stardom in death, and Impactor finally accepting the truth about himself – that it is perhaps better for us to be left to ponder this one.
There is so much more I could say about this, about the explorations of morality within the story but others are covering that ground with far more clarity and brevity than I could muster. What I will say is that I recall commenting on the violence in issue one leaving me somewhat disturbed at the time. Now, having read the whole of the story I understand why those scenes are there, and the function they serve within the narrative. It doesn't make the scenes any the less unsettling, but that is the point – the violence is supposed to be disturbing because, no matter what how it might have first seemed, this isn't the clean, action-movie version of this story this is something else entirely.
On a structural level I love the fact that this story – which has spent so much time establishing that the story of events isn't always true to the reality of them – is firmly framed as the “story of what happened†complete with narration by one of those who survived. The reader could be forgiven perhaps for wondering whether, by analogy of the story of the incident on Pova, a few of the details have been amended somewhere along the way. It makes for a nice little tinge of uncertainty in the reader, and the way it links the theme of the story into its actual structure is a nice touch.
I haven't said much about the art in this issue so far. I don't want to dump to many superlatives in one place, but it is absolutely superb. Nick Roche sells the action sequences with a wonderful surety and deft a choreography He also pours a load of character into the faces – Springer's expression alone does as much to sell the sequence of the true events on Pova as the words. Josh Burcham's colours are also truly top-notch - the deep reds that frame the Wreckers battle against Overlord, the dark colours that add a sense of oppression to some of the final pages, even the bright sunlit pallete that illuminates the closing panels all add immensely to the atmosphere.
I've probably said enough for now, and probably enthused quite enough for everyones patience, so I will close with this:
All told, we are dealing here with a series where all concerned, writers, artists and colourist have absolutely been firing on all cylinders. This series has been one of the best Transformers comics I have read in a good long time. This issue in specific isn't just one of the best by comparison to other Transformers comics, it is one of the best comics of any kind I have read in a while, and certainly a contender for the best thing I have read all year.
Karl
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Post by charlesrocketboy on May 27, 2010 12:34:50 GMT
Now we've read the whole thing, every earlier part of Wreckers takes on a new dimension. Ironfist's scenes at Aequitas in #4, where he first wants people to leave and then says he's okay with dying? Pyro's big deal over a motto? Ironfist's "that was NOT part of the deal" and "don't you DARE talk to me about death"?
Oh yeah.
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Post by grahamthomson on May 27, 2010 13:03:31 GMT
Definitely worth pouring over the first issues of LSOTW to pick up on all the lovely foreshadowing.
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Post by dinogrrl on May 31, 2010 4:28:12 GMT
Well, damn. I don't have my brain together enough to say much right now other than IMPACTOR LIVES. And has an alt mode, finally I am a happy camper from that alone. IDW is speeding up their digital releases as well, as Issue 5 is already up in iTunes. Which is good as my local comic shop went under shortly before #5 came out so I haven't gotten a physical copy as yet.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jun 3, 2010 13:42:06 GMT
Loved this series to bits.
MORE, MORE!!!!
Andy
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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 7, 2010 8:14:36 GMT
Just what am I going to tell myself when LSOTW #6 doesn't arrive this month?
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Post by Benn on Jun 7, 2010 14:21:07 GMT
It's the Volcanos fault. #6 has just been delayed slighty.
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Post by grahamthomson on Jun 8, 2010 14:58:20 GMT
*sobs uncontrollably in the corner
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