Post by The Doctor on Nov 2, 2007 18:11:17 GMT
RE: Timelines #1 Featuring Beast Wars.
Just noticed this is on this week's shipping list. IIRC this is the direct market edition of this years Botcon comic. Official TF convention comics usually give me the screaming heebies jeebies yet I know I will be unable to resist should I see it on a shelf.
Besides, anything is better than 'Reaching the Omega Point'.
-Ralph
__________________
RalphBurns.bebo.com
Edit | Delete
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] GrahamThomson
Hubmeister
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 3,368
Old post 21/11/06 at 07:44 PM Reply #2
I pre-ordered this from Steve Bax when it was announced; I'm willing to give any new TF comic a fair chance. Except any of those rotton GIJOE crossovers.
Now remind me, what was the Reaching the Omega Point comic about again?
__________________
Graham
[Online!] The_Doctor
Powermaster
Registered: 18/03/06
Posts: 6,682
Old post 21/11/06 at 09:23 PM Reply #3
Gaaaaaaaaaaaangh! Urrrrrrrrrrrr! Neeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Gungugngugngugug!
Nnnnnnnneeeeaaaaaarrrrrgh!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! Nahuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtftftftft!
Neeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhheeeeeeerartataaaaaaaaaaararaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
-Ralph
__________________
RalphBurns.bebo.com
Edit | Delete
View Member Profile Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] martinm
Powermaster
Registered: 17/03/06
Posts: 1,000
Old post 21/11/06 at 09:30 PM Reply #4
This isn't the Constipation of the Spiders thread, Ralph.
Martin
__________________
When I was a little boy, my mother used to say to me, "Elwood" - she always called me "Elwood" - "as you go through life you must be either 'oh, so smart,' or 'oh, so pleasant.'" For years - I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me. (Elwood P Dowd)
[Online!] The_Doctor
Powermaster
Registered: 18/03/06
Posts: 6,682
Old post 21/11/06 at 09:55 PM Reply #5
It should be.
-Ralph
__________________
RalphBurns.bebo.com
Edit | Delete
[Offline] GrahamThomson
Hubmeister
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 3,368
Old post 21/11/06 at 10:36 PM Reply #6
Constipation of the Shokaract.
__________________
Graham
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] Marc
Moderator
Registered: 17/03/06
Posts: 2,476
Old post 21/11/06 at 11:01 PM Reply #7
Reaching the Omega point was a mixed bag of text stories and comic strip see the Botcon Archive. I think Glen Hallit was directing it to the extent it went from mediocre fanfic to near-gibberish.
This years Botcon comic was okay, little ambigious on some details, but overall an okay Pre-Beast Wars story that crammed in this years Botcon toys. I'm buying the direct market edition as it has some extra content (profiles and the like).
[Online!] The_Doctor
Powermaster
Registered: 18/03/06
Posts: 6,682
Old post 22/11/06 at 07:08 PM Reply #8
Read it now. It's a hell of a lot better than con comics of old in that it is actually readable without wanting to wash my brain out with soapy liquid. Fanwank is mostly confined to the last page. The characters voices are spot on albeit the story is nothing special and doesn't really add anything to Beast Wars as by halfway through it became apparent this was pretty much just an extended prologue to episode 1 rather than a full blown prequel as such. It's a competant read though, and certainly infinitely better than IDW's Beast Wars comic though I can't say I'm champing at the bit for a #2 further down the line.
As for extra content, well unless the story has been expanded, all there is up the back are 3 profiles, which are extremely banal and 3 sketches from one of the artists. In all honesty, if folk have the con edition, I wouldn't recommend splurging out for the direct market edition just for that. I think the cover may be new, it's rather mediocre though.
So, overall, it was ok but not an essential read.
-Ralph
__________________
RalphBurns.bebo.com
Edit | Delete
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] oneshallstand
Mini-Con
Registered: 14/11/06
Posts: 94
Old post 24/11/06 at 12:02 AM Reply #9
I've got a load of them in stock if anyone's after a copy. I have to say I rather liked the last page. Fanboy or otherwise from an art point of view its a good rendition of Razorclaw and Divebomb. I wonder how these two feel about the Decepticons nicking their Predacon name? As someone who's not particularly Beast Wars knowledgable can anyone explain why the bots and cons became Maximals and Predacons?
www.oneshallstand.com/shop/beast/timelines1.html
__________________
If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.
~ Johnny Carson
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] Skillex
Mini-Con
Registered: 14/10/06
Posts: 25
Old post 24/11/06 at 05:37 PM Reply #10
It was... not too bad. From what I've read of the other repaint fanzine comics it was much better in all fairness.
It still felt like they were trying to cram a bit too many characters in, though (esp Tigatron, Airazor, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw). And were the in-shadow Maximal Council meant to be anyone we know?
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] Kayevcee
Powermaster
Registered: 17/03/06
Posts: 2,395
Old post 24/11/06 at 05:44 PM Reply #11
I picked this up yesterday and found it to be, in a word, cringeworthy. The storyline was going to be obvious from the get-go, but it seemed like the characters had turned into caricatures of themselves. Even I, slow as I usually am at these things, saw the final page "big reveal" coming a mile off. Oh, it was bad. Glad others seem to have enjoyed (or at least not hated) the book, though. I'm hesitant to say too much against it with a chap who's trying to sell them posting in the same thread
-Nick
__________________
"There's just not enough time in this busy world to show everybody the courtesy of a good strangling." -Sarge from RedvsBlue
[Offline] oneshallstand
Mini-Con
Registered: 14/11/06
Posts: 94
Old post 24/11/06 at 06:02 PM Reply #12
LOL thanks Nick! I'm sure people will pick it up if they want to judge for themselves - or give it a wide berth if they are unsure. Worst case scenario they'll make a colourful doorstop.
Mind you I've shifted a dozen or so in the last 24 hours so somebody out there must like it. Can anyone answer my question - why is it that the bots and cons decided to rename themselves as Maximals and Predacons? Also where are the G1 cast pre-Beast Wars and is this Megatron the same character from G1? I've read elsewhere that Primal is not Optimus.
As you can see, I'm still a novice where Beast Wars is concerned.
__________________
If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.
~ Johnny Carson
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] Legios
Powermaster
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 1,913
Old post 24/11/06 at 07:17 PM Reply #13
"Mind you I've shifted a dozen or so in the last 24 hours so somebody out there must like it. Can anyone answer my question - why is it that the bots and cons decided to rename themselves as Maximals and Predacons? "
The show never explained where the names Maximals and Predacons came from - leaving it very much an "open" issue. The way the show framed it, it was less a case of Autobots and Decepticons becoming Maximals and Predacons than Maximals and Predacons being "descended" from Autobot and Decepticon. My personal theory is that at some point in the process of technological and social evolution that led to the downsized characters of Beast Wars two splinter factions arose from within the Autobot and Decepticon ranks which out-competed the Autobots and Decepticons in evolutionary terms and eventually replaced them. But where those particular names arose from was never dwelt upon in the series.
"Also where are the G1 cast pre-Beast Wars"
With one exception (which is a spoiler for the end of S2) it is never addressed. Bob Forward and Larry Ditillo took the view that the era of the original Transformers iteration was one that had all but vanished into legend. They used the analogy that the original Optimus Prime and Megatron were to the Maximals and Predacons much like figures in Arthurian mythology are to us. (That's part of the reason that what we learn of the original "The Transformers" cast and events in Beast Wars doesn't completely fit with either comic or cartoon continuities - they took the decisions to treat those as versions of the legend, which might be at subtle variation with historical truth).
"is this Megatron the same character from G1? I've read elsewhere that Primal is not Optimus."
Neither of them are the same character. Although BW Megatron seems to have been inspired to take his name by the history of the original Megatron.
Karl
[Offline] oneshallstand
Mini-Con
Registered: 14/11/06
Posts: 94
Old post 24/11/06 at 10:03 PM Reply #14
Thanks for putting me in the picture Karl. I'm a bit sceptical about the theory of the Autobots and Decepticons being weeded out by an evolutionary process, because being cybernetic they would surely go on indefinitely replacing parts as they age, unless they meet a sticky end on the battlefield. As we know from the likes of Xarron (and numerous other characters who existed pre-Ark launch and are still around) they can go on for litterally millions of years. It seems a stretch to think they could disappear in a matter of centuries.
Your point about downsizing is an intriguing one. It brings to mind what McDonut was setting up in Micromasters, an evolution towards downsizing for the purposes of conserving dwindling energy stocks. Has TMUK addressed the phasing out of Autobots and Decepticons and replacing them with Maximals and Predacons?
Also I recall in the TF Universe/Wreckers books that G1 characters were present alongside the Beast Wars cast. Granted that a lot of them were kicking around because Unicron had transported them across time and space to fight in his arena, but they had the likes of Rodimus Prime and Trailbreaker along side Beast Wars cast. So I figured there were still bots and cons around in the BW era.
__________________
If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.
~ Johnny Carson
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Online!] AndyTurnbull
Moderator
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 2,716
Old post 24/11/06 at 10:12 PM Reply #15
TMUK has addressed the downsizing aspect in the excellent Telefunken by James Roberts which if memory serves me is available over at The Underbase.
I know the Transformers are a cybernetic race but the Autobots and Decepticons being supplanted by the Maximals and Predacons is quite a viable prospect. As technology marches on the components used in successive batches or generations of robots is going to become more and more advanced and the older Transformers wouldn't necessarily be compatible and the components they use would eventually become obsolete so no spares could be made and given time they would be outmoded and die out. The concept of circuitburn also comes into play when the brain modules are just so old they start to deteriorate and eventually burn out.
Andy
__________________
toohandsomeforprison.tumblr.com/
Sketchblog and Infodump
[Offline] Legios
Powermaster
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 1,913
Old post 24/11/06 at 10:15 PM Reply #16
"Also I recall in the TF Universe/Wreckers books that G1 characters were present alongside the Beast Wars cast. Granted that a lot of them were kicking around because Unicron had transported them across time and space to find in his arena, but they had the likes of Rodimus Prime and Trailbreaker along side Beast Wars cast. So I figured there were still bots and cons around in the BW era."
Fair enough. I can't recall whether I've actually read any of those to be honest, so my answer was confined strictly to the show itself. Clearly the secondary media has muddied the water somewhat.
Karl
[Offline] GrahamThomson
Hubmeister
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 3,368
Old post 28/11/06 at 09:36 AM Reply #17
"Has TMUK addressed the phasing out of Autobots and Decepticons and replacing them with Maximals and Predacons?"
Kind of.
All four "races" (for want of a better term) exist at the same time, but obviously not harmoniously.
Someone get this man a copy of Martin's TMUK DVD!
By the way, I got that issue last week (thanks, Steve!) and to sum it up in one word: nuts. In two words? Really nuts.
I got as far as the Tigatron/Airazor "flirting" scenes and couldn't read any further. I imagined sparks flying (quite literally!) when those two started dry humping each other and so couldn't go on.
__________________
Graham
[Online!] AndyTurnbull
Moderator
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 2,716
Old post 28/11/06 at 10:42 AM Reply #18
My copy arrived this morning (cheers Steve) and I gotta say it was a bit of a turd. Art was decent enough in some places but the story was godawful.
Andy
__________________
toohandsomeforprison.tumblr.com/
Sketchblog and Infodump
[Offline] martinm
Powermaster
Registered: 17/03/06
Posts: 1,000
Old post 28/11/06 at 06:19 PM Reply #19
Martin's attempt to summarise the evolution of Maximals and Predacons in TMUK:
In 1994 (G2 #6) Megatron stole the Creation Matrix from Optimus Prime. In addition to creating the Rotor Force and Laser Rods, he experimented on captured Earth animals (including dinosaurs from the Savage Land), altering the DNA of some of them to grow them to a large size (normal TF size, not down-sized), and implanting new TF brains and transformation mechanisms in them. The experiments were a failure, the new Beast Warriors too wild, and they were blasted off into space. They were guided by an unknown force to the planet YaJurus, a strange world populated also by Earth animals, again some of them of unusually large size.
The Cybertronian Empire began to Cyberform the planet, but stopped and withdrew when the Beast Warriors transformed and attacked them. One of the Imperials, a rebel named Dorsal, was left behind and re-engineered himself as a Beast Warrior, now called Carchas. He shot down the other Imperial ships and used their crews to create several more new Beast Warriors (including Tripredacus). He also infected many YaJuran animals and changed them into Beast Warriors, and yet more Beast Warriors were born by Megatron's Beast Warriors inter-breeding with animals.
More than 300 years later, Star Saber's forces returned to YaJurus and found it populated entirely by these (normal TF size) Beast Warriors. All Megatron's original BWs were dead, if not killed, then through ageing. The only BWs who had not aged were Carchas and the few BWs who were originally Cyberformers as opposed to starting out as animals.
Carchas made a deal with Star Saber's generals to share all the science he had done on YaJurus in the intervening centuries in exchange for them supporting his continued use of the planet as his personal laboratory. He began by sending the Tripredacus three to Cybertron on his behalf, along with many preserved BW corpses, among them the original Optimus Primal, BW Megatron, Dinobot, Tarantulas and others.
Star Saber obtained Micromaster technology from the Autobots circa 2000, and had gone Micromaster mad, he really liked them. Before long he had combined Micromaster technology with Carchas's BW forms. In 2359 he Cyberformed the planet Earth and populated it with down-sized BWs very different in nature to those on YaJurus, most of whom believed it to be the real Cybertron, though a few such as the Tripredacus three knew the score. Some of the population were modelled on the deceased YaJuran BWs (among them, many of the crew of the Axalon and Darkside).
The real Cybertron started being overrun by BWs when a few of the ones from Earth with special powers (Shokaract, Cataclysm and Antagony) turned up there in the year 2388. Over the following centuries, the Autobots and Decepticons either died, departed into deep space or retired to J'nwan, so that in the early 32nd Century only Swoop remained.
I wouldn't say BWs were more advanced than Autobots and Decepticons, just different. Autobots and Decepticons are superior in many ways: they have full design control when re-engineering their bodies, rather than relying on the whims of re-formatting processes, and they can all operate underwater. On the other hand, their self-healing abilities are more limited.
Whew! That'll do for now. Fill in the gaps, will you, Graham?
Martin
__________________
When I was a little boy, my mother used to say to me, "Elwood" - she always called me "Elwood" - "as you go through life you must be either 'oh, so smart,' or 'oh, so pleasant.'" For years - I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me. (Elwood P Dowd)
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] andrewbcalculating
The Bachelor of Art
Registered: 19/03/06
Posts: 173
Old post 28/11/06 at 08:14 PM Reply #20
Bravo Martin, that is impressive and very informative.
Andrew Borkett. |<o>|
[Offline] oneshallstand
Mini-Con
Registered: 14/11/06
Posts: 94
Old post 28/11/06 at 11:05 PM Reply #21
I whole heartedly agree. Thanks for doing that Martin. My next question is how can I get hold of one of these CDs Graham mentioned?
__________________
If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.
~ Johnny Carson
[Offline] martinm
Powermaster
Registered: 17/03/06
Posts: 1,000
Just noticed this is on this week's shipping list. IIRC this is the direct market edition of this years Botcon comic. Official TF convention comics usually give me the screaming heebies jeebies yet I know I will be unable to resist should I see it on a shelf.
Besides, anything is better than 'Reaching the Omega Point'.
-Ralph
__________________
RalphBurns.bebo.com
Edit | Delete
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] GrahamThomson
Hubmeister
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 3,368
Old post 21/11/06 at 07:44 PM Reply #2
I pre-ordered this from Steve Bax when it was announced; I'm willing to give any new TF comic a fair chance. Except any of those rotton GIJOE crossovers.
Now remind me, what was the Reaching the Omega Point comic about again?
__________________
Graham
[Online!] The_Doctor
Powermaster
Registered: 18/03/06
Posts: 6,682
Old post 21/11/06 at 09:23 PM Reply #3
Gaaaaaaaaaaaangh! Urrrrrrrrrrrr! Neeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Gungugngugngugug!
Nnnnnnnneeeeaaaaaarrrrrgh!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! Nahuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtftftftft!
Neeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhheeeeeeerartataaaaaaaaaaararaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
-Ralph
__________________
RalphBurns.bebo.com
Edit | Delete
View Member Profile Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] martinm
Powermaster
Registered: 17/03/06
Posts: 1,000
Old post 21/11/06 at 09:30 PM Reply #4
This isn't the Constipation of the Spiders thread, Ralph.
Martin
__________________
When I was a little boy, my mother used to say to me, "Elwood" - she always called me "Elwood" - "as you go through life you must be either 'oh, so smart,' or 'oh, so pleasant.'" For years - I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me. (Elwood P Dowd)
[Online!] The_Doctor
Powermaster
Registered: 18/03/06
Posts: 6,682
Old post 21/11/06 at 09:55 PM Reply #5
It should be.
-Ralph
__________________
RalphBurns.bebo.com
Edit | Delete
[Offline] GrahamThomson
Hubmeister
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 3,368
Old post 21/11/06 at 10:36 PM Reply #6
Constipation of the Shokaract.
__________________
Graham
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] Marc
Moderator
Registered: 17/03/06
Posts: 2,476
Old post 21/11/06 at 11:01 PM Reply #7
Reaching the Omega point was a mixed bag of text stories and comic strip see the Botcon Archive. I think Glen Hallit was directing it to the extent it went from mediocre fanfic to near-gibberish.
This years Botcon comic was okay, little ambigious on some details, but overall an okay Pre-Beast Wars story that crammed in this years Botcon toys. I'm buying the direct market edition as it has some extra content (profiles and the like).
[Online!] The_Doctor
Powermaster
Registered: 18/03/06
Posts: 6,682
Old post 22/11/06 at 07:08 PM Reply #8
Read it now. It's a hell of a lot better than con comics of old in that it is actually readable without wanting to wash my brain out with soapy liquid. Fanwank is mostly confined to the last page. The characters voices are spot on albeit the story is nothing special and doesn't really add anything to Beast Wars as by halfway through it became apparent this was pretty much just an extended prologue to episode 1 rather than a full blown prequel as such. It's a competant read though, and certainly infinitely better than IDW's Beast Wars comic though I can't say I'm champing at the bit for a #2 further down the line.
As for extra content, well unless the story has been expanded, all there is up the back are 3 profiles, which are extremely banal and 3 sketches from one of the artists. In all honesty, if folk have the con edition, I wouldn't recommend splurging out for the direct market edition just for that. I think the cover may be new, it's rather mediocre though.
So, overall, it was ok but not an essential read.
-Ralph
__________________
RalphBurns.bebo.com
Edit | Delete
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] oneshallstand
Mini-Con
Registered: 14/11/06
Posts: 94
Old post 24/11/06 at 12:02 AM Reply #9
I've got a load of them in stock if anyone's after a copy. I have to say I rather liked the last page. Fanboy or otherwise from an art point of view its a good rendition of Razorclaw and Divebomb. I wonder how these two feel about the Decepticons nicking their Predacon name? As someone who's not particularly Beast Wars knowledgable can anyone explain why the bots and cons became Maximals and Predacons?
www.oneshallstand.com/shop/beast/timelines1.html
__________________
If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.
~ Johnny Carson
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] Skillex
Mini-Con
Registered: 14/10/06
Posts: 25
Old post 24/11/06 at 05:37 PM Reply #10
It was... not too bad. From what I've read of the other repaint fanzine comics it was much better in all fairness.
It still felt like they were trying to cram a bit too many characters in, though (esp Tigatron, Airazor, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw). And were the in-shadow Maximal Council meant to be anyone we know?
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] Kayevcee
Powermaster
Registered: 17/03/06
Posts: 2,395
Old post 24/11/06 at 05:44 PM Reply #11
I picked this up yesterday and found it to be, in a word, cringeworthy. The storyline was going to be obvious from the get-go, but it seemed like the characters had turned into caricatures of themselves. Even I, slow as I usually am at these things, saw the final page "big reveal" coming a mile off. Oh, it was bad. Glad others seem to have enjoyed (or at least not hated) the book, though. I'm hesitant to say too much against it with a chap who's trying to sell them posting in the same thread
-Nick
__________________
"There's just not enough time in this busy world to show everybody the courtesy of a good strangling." -Sarge from RedvsBlue
[Offline] oneshallstand
Mini-Con
Registered: 14/11/06
Posts: 94
Old post 24/11/06 at 06:02 PM Reply #12
LOL thanks Nick! I'm sure people will pick it up if they want to judge for themselves - or give it a wide berth if they are unsure. Worst case scenario they'll make a colourful doorstop.
Mind you I've shifted a dozen or so in the last 24 hours so somebody out there must like it. Can anyone answer my question - why is it that the bots and cons decided to rename themselves as Maximals and Predacons? Also where are the G1 cast pre-Beast Wars and is this Megatron the same character from G1? I've read elsewhere that Primal is not Optimus.
As you can see, I'm still a novice where Beast Wars is concerned.
__________________
If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.
~ Johnny Carson
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] Legios
Powermaster
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 1,913
Old post 24/11/06 at 07:17 PM Reply #13
"Mind you I've shifted a dozen or so in the last 24 hours so somebody out there must like it. Can anyone answer my question - why is it that the bots and cons decided to rename themselves as Maximals and Predacons? "
The show never explained where the names Maximals and Predacons came from - leaving it very much an "open" issue. The way the show framed it, it was less a case of Autobots and Decepticons becoming Maximals and Predacons than Maximals and Predacons being "descended" from Autobot and Decepticon. My personal theory is that at some point in the process of technological and social evolution that led to the downsized characters of Beast Wars two splinter factions arose from within the Autobot and Decepticon ranks which out-competed the Autobots and Decepticons in evolutionary terms and eventually replaced them. But where those particular names arose from was never dwelt upon in the series.
"Also where are the G1 cast pre-Beast Wars"
With one exception (which is a spoiler for the end of S2) it is never addressed. Bob Forward and Larry Ditillo took the view that the era of the original Transformers iteration was one that had all but vanished into legend. They used the analogy that the original Optimus Prime and Megatron were to the Maximals and Predacons much like figures in Arthurian mythology are to us. (That's part of the reason that what we learn of the original "The Transformers" cast and events in Beast Wars doesn't completely fit with either comic or cartoon continuities - they took the decisions to treat those as versions of the legend, which might be at subtle variation with historical truth).
"is this Megatron the same character from G1? I've read elsewhere that Primal is not Optimus."
Neither of them are the same character. Although BW Megatron seems to have been inspired to take his name by the history of the original Megatron.
Karl
[Offline] oneshallstand
Mini-Con
Registered: 14/11/06
Posts: 94
Old post 24/11/06 at 10:03 PM Reply #14
Thanks for putting me in the picture Karl. I'm a bit sceptical about the theory of the Autobots and Decepticons being weeded out by an evolutionary process, because being cybernetic they would surely go on indefinitely replacing parts as they age, unless they meet a sticky end on the battlefield. As we know from the likes of Xarron (and numerous other characters who existed pre-Ark launch and are still around) they can go on for litterally millions of years. It seems a stretch to think they could disappear in a matter of centuries.
Your point about downsizing is an intriguing one. It brings to mind what McDonut was setting up in Micromasters, an evolution towards downsizing for the purposes of conserving dwindling energy stocks. Has TMUK addressed the phasing out of Autobots and Decepticons and replacing them with Maximals and Predacons?
Also I recall in the TF Universe/Wreckers books that G1 characters were present alongside the Beast Wars cast. Granted that a lot of them were kicking around because Unicron had transported them across time and space to fight in his arena, but they had the likes of Rodimus Prime and Trailbreaker along side Beast Wars cast. So I figured there were still bots and cons around in the BW era.
__________________
If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.
~ Johnny Carson
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Online!] AndyTurnbull
Moderator
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 2,716
Old post 24/11/06 at 10:12 PM Reply #15
TMUK has addressed the downsizing aspect in the excellent Telefunken by James Roberts which if memory serves me is available over at The Underbase.
I know the Transformers are a cybernetic race but the Autobots and Decepticons being supplanted by the Maximals and Predacons is quite a viable prospect. As technology marches on the components used in successive batches or generations of robots is going to become more and more advanced and the older Transformers wouldn't necessarily be compatible and the components they use would eventually become obsolete so no spares could be made and given time they would be outmoded and die out. The concept of circuitburn also comes into play when the brain modules are just so old they start to deteriorate and eventually burn out.
Andy
__________________
toohandsomeforprison.tumblr.com/
Sketchblog and Infodump
[Offline] Legios
Powermaster
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 1,913
Old post 24/11/06 at 10:15 PM Reply #16
"Also I recall in the TF Universe/Wreckers books that G1 characters were present alongside the Beast Wars cast. Granted that a lot of them were kicking around because Unicron had transported them across time and space to find in his arena, but they had the likes of Rodimus Prime and Trailbreaker along side Beast Wars cast. So I figured there were still bots and cons around in the BW era."
Fair enough. I can't recall whether I've actually read any of those to be honest, so my answer was confined strictly to the show itself. Clearly the secondary media has muddied the water somewhat.
Karl
[Offline] GrahamThomson
Hubmeister
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 3,368
Old post 28/11/06 at 09:36 AM Reply #17
"Has TMUK addressed the phasing out of Autobots and Decepticons and replacing them with Maximals and Predacons?"
Kind of.
All four "races" (for want of a better term) exist at the same time, but obviously not harmoniously.
Someone get this man a copy of Martin's TMUK DVD!
By the way, I got that issue last week (thanks, Steve!) and to sum it up in one word: nuts. In two words? Really nuts.
I got as far as the Tigatron/Airazor "flirting" scenes and couldn't read any further. I imagined sparks flying (quite literally!) when those two started dry humping each other and so couldn't go on.
__________________
Graham
[Online!] AndyTurnbull
Moderator
Registered: 16/03/06
Posts: 2,716
Old post 28/11/06 at 10:42 AM Reply #18
My copy arrived this morning (cheers Steve) and I gotta say it was a bit of a turd. Art was decent enough in some places but the story was godawful.
Andy
__________________
toohandsomeforprison.tumblr.com/
Sketchblog and Infodump
[Offline] martinm
Powermaster
Registered: 17/03/06
Posts: 1,000
Old post 28/11/06 at 06:19 PM Reply #19
Martin's attempt to summarise the evolution of Maximals and Predacons in TMUK:
In 1994 (G2 #6) Megatron stole the Creation Matrix from Optimus Prime. In addition to creating the Rotor Force and Laser Rods, he experimented on captured Earth animals (including dinosaurs from the Savage Land), altering the DNA of some of them to grow them to a large size (normal TF size, not down-sized), and implanting new TF brains and transformation mechanisms in them. The experiments were a failure, the new Beast Warriors too wild, and they were blasted off into space. They were guided by an unknown force to the planet YaJurus, a strange world populated also by Earth animals, again some of them of unusually large size.
The Cybertronian Empire began to Cyberform the planet, but stopped and withdrew when the Beast Warriors transformed and attacked them. One of the Imperials, a rebel named Dorsal, was left behind and re-engineered himself as a Beast Warrior, now called Carchas. He shot down the other Imperial ships and used their crews to create several more new Beast Warriors (including Tripredacus). He also infected many YaJuran animals and changed them into Beast Warriors, and yet more Beast Warriors were born by Megatron's Beast Warriors inter-breeding with animals.
More than 300 years later, Star Saber's forces returned to YaJurus and found it populated entirely by these (normal TF size) Beast Warriors. All Megatron's original BWs were dead, if not killed, then through ageing. The only BWs who had not aged were Carchas and the few BWs who were originally Cyberformers as opposed to starting out as animals.
Carchas made a deal with Star Saber's generals to share all the science he had done on YaJurus in the intervening centuries in exchange for them supporting his continued use of the planet as his personal laboratory. He began by sending the Tripredacus three to Cybertron on his behalf, along with many preserved BW corpses, among them the original Optimus Primal, BW Megatron, Dinobot, Tarantulas and others.
Star Saber obtained Micromaster technology from the Autobots circa 2000, and had gone Micromaster mad, he really liked them. Before long he had combined Micromaster technology with Carchas's BW forms. In 2359 he Cyberformed the planet Earth and populated it with down-sized BWs very different in nature to those on YaJurus, most of whom believed it to be the real Cybertron, though a few such as the Tripredacus three knew the score. Some of the population were modelled on the deceased YaJuran BWs (among them, many of the crew of the Axalon and Darkside).
The real Cybertron started being overrun by BWs when a few of the ones from Earth with special powers (Shokaract, Cataclysm and Antagony) turned up there in the year 2388. Over the following centuries, the Autobots and Decepticons either died, departed into deep space or retired to J'nwan, so that in the early 32nd Century only Swoop remained.
I wouldn't say BWs were more advanced than Autobots and Decepticons, just different. Autobots and Decepticons are superior in many ways: they have full design control when re-engineering their bodies, rather than relying on the whims of re-formatting processes, and they can all operate underwater. On the other hand, their self-healing abilities are more limited.
Whew! That'll do for now. Fill in the gaps, will you, Graham?
Martin
__________________
When I was a little boy, my mother used to say to me, "Elwood" - she always called me "Elwood" - "as you go through life you must be either 'oh, so smart,' or 'oh, so pleasant.'" For years - I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me. (Elwood P Dowd)
View Member Profile Send Private MessageSend Email Find Member's Threads Find Member's Posts
[Offline] andrewbcalculating
The Bachelor of Art
Registered: 19/03/06
Posts: 173
Old post 28/11/06 at 08:14 PM Reply #20
Bravo Martin, that is impressive and very informative.
Andrew Borkett. |<o>|
[Offline] oneshallstand
Mini-Con
Registered: 14/11/06
Posts: 94
Old post 28/11/06 at 11:05 PM Reply #21
I whole heartedly agree. Thanks for doing that Martin. My next question is how can I get hold of one of these CDs Graham mentioned?
__________________
If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.
~ Johnny Carson
[Offline] martinm
Powermaster
Registered: 17/03/06
Posts: 1,000