tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9163141447241149534.post3778248156737928081..comments2024-03-28T15:14:28.323-07:00Comments on Disciples of Boltax: Bish's Review: Marvel UK #145 "Stargazing"Jimtronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138709079942253485noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9163141447241149534.post-20970749715447560102011-10-18T02:49:02.396-07:002011-10-18T02:49:02.396-07:00skids is the one that is most reported of the UK e...skids is the one that is most reported of the UK edits. again it was down to some daft inconsistency that necessitated numerous pointless edits. <br /><br />skids was displaced by galvatron in fallen angel, I'm guessing this was done because the US comic had barely used him for several issues and therefore it was presumed he was dead or in stasis or whatever. the US then reintroduces him without any explanation, but since furman still has glavatron running around it's impossible to write skids back in. <br /><br />he was eventually returned following time wars, but by that point it was clear neither book had any true connection to one another.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9163141447241149534.post-39926443668817968562011-10-16T18:50:53.329-07:002011-10-16T18:50:53.329-07:00In reply to Bumblevivisector,
Of the UK edits, TF...In reply to Bumblevivisector,<br /><br />Of the UK edits, TF wiki has descriptions of some of them, but the only other one I'm aware of online is the change to Broadside in Totaled!/Totalled! (the title's spelling was also changed) which can be seen <a href="http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Image:Broadsidetotaled.jpg" rel="nofollow">on Tfwiki here</a>. Skids had a mixed record of being modified - he was blacked out in the crowd scene in Funeral for a Friend!, and modified in Totalled! to look like a generic (indeed Tfwiki says he looks a bit like Crosscut) but there are a few other crowd scenes around this time where both he and some of the Wreckers are left unmodified.<br /><br />Interesting take on Starscream's character. As one of those British children who had such a limited exposure to the cartoon at the time I guess I've often found Starscream annoying and caricatured because I grew up on versions where the characterisations and relationship is tonally different - Megatron is more cautious & wiley in both the comic and the Ladybird books, whilst Starscream has huge naked ambition but also a pronounced tendency to shoot first and think later. Indeed on several occasions (especially in the Ladybird books) it's <i>Starscream</i> putting forward a half-baked plan and <i>Megatron</i> pointing out the flaws, though it's Soundwave and the narrator (and indirectly Optimus Prime) in Crisis of Command who spell out just why Starscream hasn't got what it takes to be a leader. (And of course the comics had alternative Decepticons leaders with far more credible claims such as Shockwave.)<br /><br />As for Adam Reynolds, he originally appeared in <a href="http://tfwiki.net/wiki/In_the_Beginning..." rel="nofollow">In the Begining</a> in the 1986 or 1987 annual when he accidentally hacked into the Decepticon history computer. I don't think they put too much thought into the state of Mount St Hilary or how the Autobot computer knew details of events on both Cybetron and Nebulos - they just wanted to impart as much key information as possible. Equally I'm not sure if the kid is meant to be Reynolds - the latter is seemingly older and the kid never mentions his quest to regain knowledge of the Transformers' conflict.<br /><br />You raise an interesting point that highlight there's yet another big continuity error in this story - the kid's knowledge of the Transformers and complete lack of trepidation about approaching one seems rather at variance with the comic so far. Other stories show neither the widespread popular knowledge and Autobot celebrities seen in the cartoon nor the "robots in disguise" strictly adhered to by Ladybird. Instead the public at large are aware there are giant robots running around and often fighting, but don't know the details or the race and faction names, simply assuming all the robots are hostile threats - and several stories explicitly address this (e.g. Decepticon Dambusters) or show how attempts by the Autobots to correct the picture are thwarted by the Decepticons (e.g. In the National Interest). The idea that a human could know enough that Starscream is "a Transformer" but not realise the danger and instead voluntarily approach one is heavily at odds with this.<br /><br />(Okay one could argue that the kid is part of a group of "robot spotters" who've noticed the robots and are comparing notes and theories to put together a full picture. There's a similar concept in modern versions of Doctor Who. But such a concept would need to be explicitly introduced to make it work.)Tim Roll-Pickeringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12589024696145675963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9163141447241149534.post-68371660105496132252011-10-15T18:40:29.656-07:002011-10-15T18:40:29.656-07:00I didn't get to read the Christmas specials un...I didn't get to read the Christmas specials until the Titan Second Generation trade, and this one stood out as my favorite. Maybe it's the only one that actually achieved "so stupid it's funny", but it didn't strike me as being as chiseled as Christmas Breaker, as "nothing" as The Gift (Jetfire), or as depressing as Cold Comfort. <br /><br />Say Tim, is there any online collection of all the UK edits made to the American book? I can't find any on the TF Wiki, and I'd love to see what Skids got turned into. The only ones I've actually seen are both panels of Krunix in Headmasters #2. <br /><br />While I certainly can't defend the continuity problems, I think I'll actually step up to bat for Starscream's...erm...character development here. In Target: 2006, he mentions being troubled by Galvatron using the Nemesis for target practice, since that might impede their ability to return to Cybertron, so the idea that he might be stuck on Earth longer than expected would be fresh in his mind. This might have led him to think that learning a bit about human psychology could be used to some long-term advantage, hence his willingness to play along with a deranged teenager willing to risk death in the fight against Grinchitude. His "change of heart" could just be one last attempt to see if he could mess with the kid's mind after finally getting through to him. <br /><br />Was this insight into fleshling behavior worth it? Well, Ratbat was willing to make Screamer manager of Club Con in spite of his reputation... <br /><br />As for the oddness of casting Starscream as a sympathetic character: I know this is likely a moot point given how little exposure British children had to the Sunbow cartoon, but a lot of casual Transfans in my neck of the globe (Detroit-ish) consider him their favorite TF for that very reason. On TV, Starscream's role was the guy correctly pointing out the flaw in Megatron's dumb plan every other episode only to be ignored, making him someone that every single kid who felt no one listened to them could instantly identify with. Even though he was never a personal favorite of mine, and one thing that made me more loyal to the comics was the fact that he acted a bit differently (i.e. smart enough to just shut the f#@% up and bide his time), I can't quite divorce my view of any Starscream from that idea, so this story still works for me, at least as well as half the Earth Force stuff (though I imagine a lot of UK readers dismissed that as the equivalent of chibi-theater at the end of some manga; sorry if I brought that up way too early). <br /><br />Now as to why this kid would be nuts enough to harass a Decepticon: the one annual I own ('89, pre Time Wars) has a text recap of past years framed as one Adam Reynolds reading off the computers left behind in Mt. Saint Hillary after Grimlock ordered the Ark back into space. Interesting that this includes events on Nebulos, as even if this was connected to updated files on the Ark, these systems should have been destroyed by the eruption in U.S. #38. Though post-dating Stargazing, it mentions that he'd previously accessed the Decepticons' backstory database by accident. Aside from being blonde, Adam looks a LOT like Starscream's young foil in this issue, so is it possible they're supposed to be the same obsessive boy? More pointless continuity has happened. <br /><br />-BumblevivisectorAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9163141447241149534.post-5713080675434349422011-10-15T16:44:47.293-07:002011-10-15T16:44:47.293-07:00I guess Starscream's original stasis came abou...I guess Starscream's original stasis came about because the US comic was a little reluctant to show outright death, and then Target 2006 restored him to the status quo ante in case the US strip was going to make further use of him.<br /><br />And that's what makes the story even more pointless - Furman may have got wind that Starscream was being revived but had already reconciled the two continuities and so could have easily left him in the stasis pod to be retrieved in Totalled, rather than this mess that necessitated art & letter edits on Totalled and Club 'Con. (It also creates another mess by revealing that the stasis pod was just left lying in a field and wasn't discovered for over a year. Who's sillier - the Unicron controlled Autobots who left it there, or the rest of the world for not noticing?)Tim Roll-Pickeringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12589024696145675963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9163141447241149534.post-38899212024730842922011-10-15T08:33:24.228-07:002011-10-15T08:33:24.228-07:00In chronological terms this was the first TF Chris...In chronological terms this was the first TF Christmas Special I read as a kid (I'd only just got back into transformers that year and was in the process of collecting the back issues). <br /><br />So it didn't seem quite as appalling to me as it was to the reviewer. Simply because I had no frame of reference as to starscream's character and motivation in terms of human customs and indifference there to. <br /><br />I do however agree that it was cloyingly heavy handed in the TWEE factor. And yes, if it were me sitting in the snow feeling sorry for myself, some random bloke coming up to me and promising to show me what christmas is all about would be more creepy and uplifting. <br /><br />I guess looking back as an adult you see the flaws in this one more blatantly. But what it highlighted more blatantly was how ridiculous it was to just leave Starscream trapped in a stasis pod in the first place. <br /><br />While in terms of "the bigger picture" no one handled plot better than Furman, in terms of the nitty gritty, he tended to just pull stuff out of thin air, and occasionally it didn't work. This was one of those times. <br /><br />I personally wouldn't rate this issue quite as badly as the reviewer does, but at the same time, it's not a classic TF story.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com