The Ark Addendum: Washington D.C.

Hola, amigos! It's time for another Ark Addendum. Originally I intended to title this one Atlantis, Arise! Part II, but I realized that everything was a monument in Washington D.C. and changed the title accordingly.  I suppose I could have called last week's entry Sub-Atlantica, but it's harder to separate the Sub-Atlanticans from Atlantis, Arise! than it is to separate out our nation's capitol.  (Well, my nation's capitol. You might be in another country. SHOUT OUT, UK READERS!)

Funny story. Since I was starting with last week's entry as my starting point, I very nearly launched this page with Washington, D.C. next to a Decepticon symbol. (I'm sure my buddy Scott Rhymer would have appreciated that.) On my proofreading pass I realized my error and dropped in the Earth symbol.  More appropriate, but less funny.

The Ark Addendum - Atlantis, Arise!

Today feels like a good day for me. I finished the last of my G.I. Joe Field Manual--Appendix articles for the G.I. Joe fanclub magazine. They're kind of like the Ark Addendum articles I post here, only official and for G.I. Joe. It should see print some time around April or May. I also watched the fourth episode of season 2 of The Shield and chortled to myself when Wagenbach said that today is a good day for Gamblers Anonymous, what with it being two days after the Superbowl.  Funny timing, that.

So, to get to the meat of the post, here's part one of Atlantis, Arise!. It's one of the sillier episodes, with the Sub-Atlantican race teaming up with the Decepticons. I feel like it'd be really hard for a modern TF series to indulge in this level of silliness.

The Ark Addendum - The Immobilizer (part 2)

Howdy, faithful readers and newcomers alike! This week's Ark Addendum finishes off The Immobilizer with some backgrounds. Now, it's true, they're nothing really spectacular, but on the other hand, the idea that Spike and Bumblebee meet Carly at a place called Robots Video Arcade is so delightfully Transformers that it brings a smile to my face. 

The Ark Addendum - The Immobilizer (part 1)

Welcome to another edition of The Ark Addendum. I combed through my holdings and found enough models for not one but two outing from The Immobilizer. Sadly, I don't have the Immobilizer itself, but there are some pretty cool models from the episode. My favorite has to be the very Dery-esque board of Jazz's sound and lights show. I wish I'd had that one for the Jazz page in The Ark. Ah, well, perhaps all for the best, his page is pretty tight already. 

The Ark Addendum - The Autobot Run

Well, after a couple of months off, I managed to find the time to put together one more of these.  Not too many left, unless I find a new source! 

This week (month?), I bring you the models from The Autobot Run.  It's a good episode and it has especially interesting models.  There's the Transfixatron, of course, but I'm especially partial to the model sheets labeled "metal crushing machine."  The wiki makes fun of it as a tentacle monster, but it's really quite a frighting design.

I'm also rather partial to the idea of setting the episode in an old west ghost town. Why? Why not!

Here's a bit of trivia for you, by the by. The Transfixatron was originally called the Satsitron. That could be a typo on the model sheet for Stasitron, or it could just be a flurry of creativity on the part of Donald Glut.  (This trivia note appears on the wiki. Did I put it there? I don't imagine there are too many other people out there with model sheets.)

The Ark Addendum - Traitor

Welcome back, to another edition of The Ark Addendum.  This week, the classic G1 Season Two episode Traitor!

Traitor is quite a fun episode.  Mirage's anti-war sentiments were explored a bit in More than Meets the Eye, so it's fun to see the ultra gung-ho Cliffjumper confront him.  The episode had enough resonance to be echoed decades later in All Hail Megatron, so that's something.  There are some really neat Floro Dery designs, too.  I love the Insecticon lair.  Enjoy!

The Ark Addendum - Changing Gears

Happy Election Day, to all my US based readers.  Hope that you informed yourself on the issues and voted.  Sending those politicians a message by staying home as a clown only leads to gargantuan cyborg overlords. 

It's Tuesday, which means it's Ark Addendum day.  This week, we go back to Changing Gears, on of the last episodes that I have substantial background images for.  The centerpiece is the Solar Needle, identified as the Star Needle on the model.  It's quite a lovely design. 

I don't really like the episode, though.  The drastic personality alteration that Gears undergoes should have deeper implications than it does, really.  That it's accidental only makes things worse.  For a better examination of personality shifting, see the S1 episode of Beast Wars, Dark Designs.  Evil Rhinox is pretty badass, as we learn there and confirm in late season one of Beast Machines. 

The Ark Addendum - Ginrai (Alternate Models)

Welcome to another exciting edition of The Ark Addendum!  This week, I give yet another page to Ginrai.  Long-time readers will no doubt realize that I've already given him three pages of transformations, as well as six pages in The Complete Ark.  (I think it was 5 in The Ark II.)  What can I say?  He's the main character in Masterforce, he's got 3 robot modes, a drone, an alternate mode, a human form with and without armor... it adds up! 

This will, in all likelihood, be the last time I devote a page to Ginrai, though, as it represents my last unused Ginrai models.  Sure, I suppose I may come across a new cache of material that might include the transformation for Godbomber or GodGinrai, but barring that, this is it.

So, what are we looking at here?  First up, we've got regular Ginrai with a pair of guns.  They look pretty badass on him, mostly because they're sized for his super form. 

I also include the UNarmed character model for Super Ginrai.  For some reason, I used his armed version in the book.  I'm pretty sure I had both versions, so I'm not sure why I went with that version.  Usually I used the unarmed version if I had it.  Maybe it just looked better on the page; it certainly has a nice flow.  Maybe it was because I'd already included the stand-alone guns on the Ginrai page, and wanted to indicate that, indeed, he has weapons. 

Finally, there's a version of Super Ginrai crouching.  This model partially made it into the book.  I believe that it's mostly there to show what his collar area looks like, so for space I cut off his legs.  Now you can enjoy him in all his squatting splendor!

The Ark Addendum - Fortress' (Cerebros') Transform

What's this?  I'm going a week without skipping an Ark Addendum?  Could it be that my life is settling back down to something approaching normal? 

Since I seem to be on a roll with Transformations, I figured I'd see if I had any more.  This one is a funny one... Fortress.  Or, if you prefer western naming conventions, Cerebros.  Despite being a giant head, he manages a pretty interesting transformation.

This is a particularly timely model, since TakaraTomy has recently announced Encore #23... Fortress Maximus!  Now, I've already got a MIB Fort Max, Japanese style with the swords, so I'm not directly excited by this.  But we also have the possibility of an eHobby FM repaint.  Oh, my, that could be a LOT of fun.  Anyway, if you've always wanted a Fort Max, this is your chance to get one for something approaching reasonable: http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK11575&mode=retail

The Ark Addendum: Apeface's Transform

Hola, amigos!  I know it's been a long time since I rapped at you, but I've been HELLA busy with my move to Albuquerque.  I love my new home, but between closing the deal and repairing all the minor things wrong with it and unpacking and furnishing it, it's sucked up just about all of my time.

Anyway, it's been a couple of weeks, but I should be back on track for a while as life calms down.  So, checking on Martin's tally of my missing model sheets, I come to... APEFACE!

Full disclosure: I don't have the model sheet of his transformation to jet mode.  I dunno why, I just don't.  I do have both sets for Snapdragon, so look for that soon.

My main memory of Apeface is trying to hunt down a spare gun for him.  You see, you can snap his gun into either side of his jet mode, but that seemed awkward to me, so I went ahead and got an extra.  The gun isn't perfectly symmetrical, so that doesn't work 100% either, but it was neat at the time.  He never got a lot of screen time, but in the Underbase arc he used his own arm to bludgeon another Decepticon into pulp.  You gotta love that!

The Ark Addendum - Metalhawk's Transform; The Field Manual!

Busy week for me!  I've moved out of Los Angeles... more or less.  Actually, I've only removed my person from the environs, my stuff won't follow me for a few more days.  But I've not headed down to Albuquerque yet, no.  I'm in New York, visiting family in advance of my brother's wedding.  After that, breeze over to New Mexico, close on my new house, and then maybe settle down to some writing.

This week's Addendum is Metalhawk's Transformation.  Martin, you missed this one!  This well and truly DOES finish off my Masterforce Pretender transformations.  Not a bad one to go out on, is he.  Metalhawk is the Cybertron leader for the first part of Masterforce, until Ginrai takes up the mantle.  He's also one of the handful of Japanese exclusive molds to the Masterforce line (along with, from memory, God Bomber, Overlord, Browning, and some new tooling on Ginrai, Grand Maximus, and Black Zarak.)  His die-cast metal bits made him stand out, as these had largely been abandoned by the tail end of 1986.

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YO JOE!!!   The G.I. Joe Field Manual: Volume 1 hits stores TOMORROW! Get on down to your local comic book shop and pick up a copy.  I'll post an official reaction thread, and I'd surely love to hear your thoughts.

For those of you who missed it, this is my compilation of G.I. Joe animation models from the 1983-1985 period.  That includes both mini-series as well as season one.  From Ace to Zap, from the A.S.P. to Zartan, it's a more than comprehensive guide to the G.I. Joe cartoon covering the Joe team, Cobra, and plenty of guests.  M.A.S.S. Device? Check!  Weather Dominator? Don't you know it! Honda Lou West?  But of course! Oktober Guard? I'd be remiss otherwise.
en abandoned by the tail end of 1986.

The Ark Addendum - Perceptor's Transform

Hey, y'all!  Sorry I took a week off, moving from LA to Albuquerque is taking up much of my time.  I found the time today, though, to share a fun model sheet... Perceptor's transformation!

Oddly, I don't have too many of the American transformation sheets.  Most of what I had I shared in The Ark, albeit small.  I acquired a few more, when I got the model packs for Webworld and Madman's Paradise.  Perceptor was among these.  (As was Sludge, so expect to see him and no other Dinobot at some point.)

I like step 4... I wonder if it didn't, many years later, inspire the rather excellent Vitruvian Man Perceptor cover to All Hail Megatron 15 by all-around cool guy Casey Coller. 

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Can't neglect my dozens of Farscape fans either, now, can I?  Let's see, where did I leave off?  Oh, yes, early Season Three.  (I'm up to S4 now, so I've got some catching up to do.)  S03E05, Different Destinations, is Farscape's take on time travel.  True to form, the gang just makes things worse and worse, and while things don't wind up at their nadir, they leave history worse than they found it.  One geektastic reference here, when Crichton gives Stark the nickname Astroboy.  Gotta love it.  Other pop-culture references include Scarface ("Woah, Tony Montana") and The Andy Griffith Show, when he calls the peacekeeper hero "Opie."

S03E06, Eat Me, kicks off one of the best storylines in Farscape, bar none... the two Crichton arc.  On board a dying leviathan, the gang encounters a madman who can 'twin' people.  Two copies, both equal and original, though repeated twinning can result in degradation and brain damage.   The biggest geek reference in the ep is John calling the degraded, too-often twinned Peacekeepers "Night of the Living Dead."  Hammer Films is also name-checked.  Other pop-culture references include additional nods to The Wizard of Oz ("ding, dong, the pod is dead") and Kentucky Fried Chicken ("it's finger-lickin' good.")  Oh, and John mentions Abbot & Costello again.

S03E07, Thanks for Sharing, continues the ramifications of two Crichtons running around, and introduces Aeryn's mother Xhalax, as a recurring villain.  The main story, about local intrigue as the gang tries to fix Talyn, falls a bit flat though.  Geek references, there are two.  My favorite is this: "I know it's not as bad as the last time. It's not the Cro-Magnon copy or the Alien Nation reject, but you can tell I'm the original, right?"  Alien Nation, a terrific sci-fi show, was created by Rockne O'Bannon, one of Farscape's creators.  I also enjoy the continuity nod to the last time we had multiple Crichtons running about. The other geek reference was to The Dark Crystal, when John lists the Skeksis among people Crais might have pissed off.  Non geek references include Captain Crunch as a nickname for Crais, the Gotti family as a nickname for the ruling family on the planet in question, and A Few Good men ("you want the truth? you can't handle... aw, let's cut the crap."

S03E08, Green Eyed Monster, starts off the format of the season.  Half the episodes take place on Talyn, with Crichton, Aeryn, Rygel, Stark, and Crais.  Half take place on Moya, with Crichton, D'Argo, Chiana, Jool, and Pilot.  Monster is one of the former, and involves Talyn getting swallowed by a living budong (See Home on the Remains.)  Only one Geek reference, but it's lovely.  "That's no moon... That's a budong!" (If you need me to explain this, then why are you even reading this blog?)  Other less geeky reference include the obligatory bible reference when John calls Crais 'Jonah' and the famous Apollo (mis)quote, "Houston, we have a problem."

S03E09, Losing Time, is a Moya episode. The gang takes on a couple of energy beings who can possess them, and hilarity ensues.  PLENTY of geekdom here, so it's a good one to end on.  One of the incorporeal beings he addresses as Casper.  In a nice Exorcist nod, John argues that he can't be the one possessed, because "If I'm Linda Blair, why am I telling you guys anything?" John also informs a DRD "All right, we don't understand the R2-D2 crap. We're going to use the Star Trek system: one blink for yes, two blinks for no. You understand?"  This is a beautiful Star Trek/Star Wars reference.  One blink for yes, two for no comes from The Menagerie two-parter in the original series of Trek.

Farscape: The Complete Series is available for purchase on Amazon, and needless to say is well worth the money.

The Ark Addendum - Sureshot's Transform (and even more Farscape)

The Ark Addendum marches on!  I'm honestly not sure what I'll bring you next week, but this week I finish off the last of many partial sequences I've been through, the transformations for the Headmaster characters.

Sureshot's our boy this time.  I'd say my favorite image is probably step 1, just showing the car zooming along at high speed.  It's nice that they didn't just reuse the basic car model.  It's a bit odd that they violate the 180 degree rule from that shot to the next one, though.

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Farscape Geekwatch also continues!  The wife and I are enjoying plowing through the show as a nice break from my work and her studies.  It's my second, MAYBE third time watching it, her first.  It remains mucho fun, mainly for the rich characterization though the arc episodes are quite well done.

S03E02, Suns and Lovers continues with the Zhaan dying plotline. The gang just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, when some religious zealots target the station they're resupplying at.  The only genre reference of note is Scooby Doo.  John calls the gang's heroism "Scooby time" and then name-drops Scooby snacks.  Non-genre references include John calling D'Argo Heavy D, after a rapper.

S0E03-04, Could'a, Would'a, Should'a, introduces Joolushko Tunai Fenta Hovalis (aka Jool), writes Zhaan out (Virginia Hay was having a bad time with the make-up), and gives us an inside look at Wormholes.  Many fans seem to hate Jool, and I can see why.  My first exposure to her was from mid-S3, when she was a contributing crew member, but in her first few appearances she was annoying as frell.  That was probably a bad choice, and probably why they'd write her out in early S4.

Sci-Fi and geek references include another Trek reference (John to Jool: "Welcome to the Federation Starship SS Buttcrack.) and Aeryn, of all people, asking if a broadcast clip John saw was 'Yoda of Dagobah.'  Also to Jool, he expresses some sympathy as he knows that "this trip to Krugerland was not on your itinerary," a Nightmare on Elm Street references.  Non-genre references include infamous defense attorney F. Lee Bailey ("can it, F.Lee", he quips to Rygel), Adam-12 ("One-Adam-Twelve, guys."  Adam-12 starred frequent Farscape guest star Kent McCord, aka Jack Crichton), and Hogan's Heroes (he calls one of the aliens Colonel Klink.)

Farscape: The Complete Series is available for purchase on Amazon, and if you don't own it, buy it now now now!

The Ark Addendum - Pointblank's Transform (and Farscape continues)

Welcome, faithful readers, to another edition of The Ark Addendum.  I've been endeavoring, with long-time reader Martin's help, to finish off some gaps in my previous postings.  With that in mind, here's the Transformation for Pointech, AKA Pointblank.

My favorite part of this drawing is the underside of the car, in step 2A.  It seems very Back to the Future somehow.

And while we're on the subject of other Sci-Fi, let's examine some Farscape, shall we, as my Geekwatch continues.

We're up to the mid-season three-parter, Look At The Princess, S02E10 - S02E12.  The story kind of dragged, truth be told.  Originally this was a two-part episode that got expanded.  I think they would have been better off keeping it tight.  The Scorpius stuff is great, and we get our first look at the Scarrans, but the local politics winds up tedious.

Lots of great genre references, though.  When D'Argo leaps through the air to catch a plummeting Chiana and knock her away from boiling acid, John's reaction is an earnest "how Batman was that?"  As John contemplates the downside of 80 years spent as a sentient statue, he lists out all the people who will be dead when he's revived, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  John also likens a floating probe to the one used by Obi-Wan in Star Wars. Prince Valiant is namechecked. Finally, when Crichton finds out that he is to wed the princess, because only he is genetically compatible for siring children, he calls himself the reverse King Arthur.  "I'm the one who can put the sword INTO the stone!"  Cute.  (Non genre references include Blazing Saddles ["Get back, or the white boy gets it. Oh, man, don't let 'em kill me!"], Apocalypse Now, and John Wayne Bobbit.)

S02E13, My Three Crichtons is much stronger.  Crichton gets hit with a probe and a prehistoric and highly evolved version extrapolated.  Two good sci-fi references here.  John refers to the probe which duplicates him as a 'body snatcher', a nice nod to the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  Perhaps more fun is a confused Crichton stating that he's "in Bill and Ted land here," referring to the amusing time travel parody Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.   Other pop culture references include The $64,000 Question and My Three Sons. 

S02E14, Beware of Dog, is a fun little story about parasites on the ship and the Vorc the gang buys to try to help deal with them.  Hardly profound, but an enjoyable outing.  Good genre references abound.  Crichton calls the parasites body snatchers (a better use of the term, though a bit repetitive.)  He refers to the Vorc as an "Ewok gone bad" (because it's cuddly and cute) and as "The Incredible Vorc" (due to its ability to Hulk out).  John also employs the Riddler's catch phrase, "riddle me this."  Non-sci-fi references include Lassie ("Look, Lassie here is trying to communicate with us,") and some dialog paraphrased from Caddyshack.

I'll end with S02E15, Won't Get Fooled Again.  This is a terrific episode, where John wakes up seemingly on Earth.  Since they played this beat last season, the audience isn't buying it and neither is John.  It turns out that the scenario isn't designed to fool him, just to drive him bonkers.  I love John opening the door to a woman's room and seeing... a woman's room.  It's also clear the production team had a ton of fun putting the gang in unusual costumes and situations.  Crais as a police officer in red high-heeled shoes? Priceless.  Getting the girls to dress up in fetish outfits is fun too.

Reference-wise, there are a TON of Wizard of Oz references.  (Let's see... John thinks he's got it all figured out, and it's a plot to "show you how I create the giant blue twister that sucks me down to Oz." Crais as a police officer calls a dog Toto.  John calls the Scorpius neuro-clone, which manifests itself for the first time here, "the man behind the curtain."  John says he feels like he's been hit by a house.  And John's rhyme, "Come out, come out, wherever you are, and see the young man who fell from the star" echoes a similar rhyme from the Good Witch.  Other references include Hamlet, Dirty Harry, The Beatles, and The Who (the eponymous song, naturally.) I find it amusing that it's between two Jimmy Stewart movies that Crichton picks the Scorpius Clone's name from.  Harvey is an invisible rabbit from the film of the same name, Clarence is the invisible angel from It's a Wonderful Life.

Farscape: The Complete Series is available for purchase on Amazon, and everyone should watch it.

The Ark Addendum - Diver's Transform (and Farscape's Geekwatch marches on!)

Filling in the gaps in previous series continues with Diver, the last Pretender I'm missing from Masterforce.  (Martin, who am I still missing now?)

I think my favorite bit from the Diver model isn't represented here.  It's the tattoo on his human form that reads "perked up anchor."  Oh, Japan!

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Farscape Geekwatch!  S02E06: Picture if You Will features the return of Maldis.  We won't see him again (though, without looking it up, he seems like a sure bet for a comic appearance) but he'll be mentioned a few more times.  I hated the character the first time through, seemed too mystical for my taste, though really in retrospect he's not much different than Q or Trellain or any other energy being.  The geekiest bit in the episode is when Crichton criticizes Maldis for not reading the supervillain's handbook.  Not specific, but geeky none-the-less.  (specific non-geek references include The Price Is Right, The Sound of Music, and Magical Mystery Tour.)

S02E07: The Way We Weren't is an episode largely motivated around a series of flashbacks to the days of Crais and Aeryn as Peacekeepers.  Man, if they'd made Crais this badass in S1 they might not have had to replace him!  Nothing too geeky here, though John saying that "I don't think Pilot's in a 'Leviathan for Dummies' kinda mood right now" almost counts.

S02E08: Home on the Remains (ugh!) is another weaker episode, again with a Chiana focus.  Good geek cred, though, with John shouting "shazam!" (Captain Marvel, natch.  From memory, Soloman, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury. Yeah, I like my Captain Marvel.)  John also tells the bad guy "No more Captain Kirk chitchat." Other references include Dominoes pizza, Jenny Craig's weight loss ads, and the Donner party.

I'll end with S02E09: Out of their Minds, a hilarious episode with body swapping all around.  No geek references here, I'm afraid.  No real references of any kind that I noticed, outside from Crichton calling Rygel (in his own body none-the-less) Einstein and referring to his body smacking his ego (residing in Aeryn's body) as a Three Stooges routine.  I'll forgive much, though, since John goes ahead and takes advantage of his time in Aeryn's body to feel up her boobs, then dance around with her shirt open. 

Farscape: The Complete Series is available for purchase on Amazon, and unless you're homeless you should own it.

The Ark Addendum - Gilmer's Transform (plus Farscape Geekwatch)

OK, starting to resume a more normal posting schedule despite the move.

First up, let's hit this week's Ark Addendum.  From good old Masterforce comes another transform... Gilmers!  That finishes off the Destron Pretenders.  (Right now I'm engaging in Operation: Make Martin Happy).

This is a great transform, no doubt.  I love how step three just runs right off the page.

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I'll also finish of season one of my Farscape Geekwatch.  S01E21: Bone to Be Wild.  First off, as puns go... ugh!  Really?  SO painful.  (It's about a bone-eating carnivore, played by Ben Browder's wife.  She'll return in each subsequent season... as a different alien each time.  Fun stuff!)

Two good Geek references here:  "One, two, three, four to beam down, Pilot," quips John, in a beautiful Trek reference.  (Though next episode has it beat.)  John also remarks, of the botanist of the episode, "Swamp Thing here ain't the Mr. Rogers scientist we thought he was."  Nice DC Comics shout-out, and juxtaposed with Fred Rogers no less.  Fun!

(Stark is nowhere to be seen.  Somewhere a line of dialog about him taking a Transport Pod out into the asteroid belt got lost.  Boo!  We also meet Lieutenant Braca, though he isn't named yet.  I like Braca.)

S02E22: Family Ties, finishes off the season, and finishes it off strong.  Rygel tries to sell out the crew, only to find that Scorpius isn't interested.  Crais uses it as an opportunity to jump ship and eventually absconds with Talyn, Moya's offspring.  John and D'Argo manage to outmaneuver Scorpius and blow up his base, though they're left floating in space with Aeryn unable to rescue them due to heavy Prowler patrols.

Only one geekwatch here, but it's a goodie.  As Crichton and D'Argo prepare for their spacewalk, he refers to them as Kirk and Spock, then as Abbot and Costello.  It's a great moment.

(M'Lee, the bone eater, is acknowledged as having gone off somewhere in a Marauder.  Scorpius wondered where the security officer assigned to her had gotten to.) 

Thus ends Farscape, season one.  Slow to start, but really gets there in the end.  Crais never worked as the main villain of the series, but as a wildcard with family ties to Moya, he seems right at home.  Scorpius is magnificent as the big bad of the series.  Ben seems to have found his Crichton, with a bit more madness thanks to the Aurora chair and looking kinda bad-ass in his Peacekeeper Command get-up.  (He'll stick with that, with a few minor alterations, for the rest of the series.) 

Farscape: The Complete Series is available for purchase on Amazon, and I just love it.  It was slow at first, but now it's kicking ass.

The Ark Addendum - Highbrow's Transform (& Farscape Geekwatch)

Howdy, y'all!  Sorry that it's been a while since I've posted here.  I'm in the process of moving my wife and I to Albuquerque, from New Haven and Los Angeles, respectively. This includes the purchase of a new home, which has taken up much time and energy.  Between that and ComicCon this weekend, I've been swamped.

However, I didn't want to neglect you, my loyal readers, so I checked Martin's wish list and found Highbrow's transformation.  Here it is!  It's one of the more elaborate ones.  Note how, though there are only six frames, three of them have insets. My favorite detail has to be the inset of his gun, popping into his hand, in step 6.

A funny sidenote: Gort got his own transform, which I'll try to clean up and post next week.  Most of the Master guys didn't, or got a very very simple one.  His is fully detailed.  I wonder why.

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I've also been neglecting my of Farscape Geekwatch.  We've watched a few more.  There's kind of a dearth of genre references, though, so I can reasonably do this quickly.

S01E11: Till the Blood Runs Clear.  No real sci-fi references to speak of, though Crichton references Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, as well as Disney's Pluto.  This episode introduces Furlough, the hefty mechanic, who will play an important role in season 3. 

S01E12: Raphsody in Blue. An important Zhaan episode, wherein she gives up her frock.  Again, no genre references.  Could my memory be failing?  Perhaps later seasons will pick it up a lot more.  Looney Toons gets name-checked, at least. 

S01E13: The Flax.  We're introduced to a new tech, the Flax, an invisible web that will play a role in the S2 three part season ender.  AGAIN, no sci-fi or fantasy references, though Top Gun is mentioned.

S01E14: Jeremiah Crichton. A fun episode where Crichton attempts to go native. Yet again, no solid genre nods, though there's a Lion King reference. John to the native's Masata, or wise man: "Well, hakuna matata, Masata."

S01E15: Durka Returns. A solid Rygel episode, where his old nemesis returns as an apparently brainwashed ward of a new race, the Nebari.  Chiana, a Nebari prisoner who really just wants to live a little away from her stifling culture, is a welcome new addition to the crew.  Not quite genre, but worth mentioning.  John: "Durka's gone Hannibal Lecter on us." To her credit, Chiana calls John on his incomprehensible (to anyone on that side of the galaxy) speech.

Farscape: The Complete Series is is for sale on Amazon.com, and I'll get through a few more before ComicCon if I can. 

The Ark Addendum - Misfire's Transform

After a few weeks of Madman's Paradise, I thought we should head back to the anime.  This week, I finish off the Destron targetmaster transformation sequences.

This is a pretty nice one. I especially like the fact that the start and end points are new models, as opposed to recycled the standard bot or jet mode. 

In other news, I just sent in the final version of the  The G.I. Joe Field Manual: Volume 1 (preorder it today) to IDW.  Volume One should be excellent, and I've already started Volume Two.  Transformers Legacy, meanwhile, is in the final phases of content acquisition. I'm still hunting, so if you've got pieces I'm missing, definitely drop me a line.

The Ark Addendum - Madman's Paradise Part 5 (and Farscape Geekwatch)

It's been a long, twilight struggle, but we've made it through Madman's Paradise!  We come to the final batch of models, the Golden One's loyalists.

Here you can see one of the tricks I sometimes employ.  Treant the second and treant the first are obviously very similar models.  To keep them from looking TOO much alike, at least on a subconscious level, I reversed the second one.  It also makes the page flow better.  Note that I didn't do that with the second Birdman model, because I believe it's just the same guy carrying some explosives.

And, since I'm at it, the Farscape Geekwatch for today is episode S01E08: That Old Black Magic. Sadly, no real stand-out genre references today.  The closest we get is this, from John to Rigel: "Oh, it's not Kansas. And you're way too homely to be Auntie Em. But...come here, Toto."  The Wizard of Oz is fantasy, more or less, right? Ok, ok, it's a reach, but it's the best I got.

The Ark Addendum - Madman's Paradise 4 (and Farscape: Geekwatch)

Madman's Paradise continues!  This week, it's monsters working for The Red Wizard and some cool siege gear.  Four down, one to go!

The Farscape Geekwatch continues! A juicy one in S01E06: Thank God it's Friday... Again.

"Oh, yeah, I think I've seen this one. Mel Gibson, Tina Turner...cage match."

This is a nice Mad Max reference, even if it is to Thunderdome.  (John even mocks it, saying that no one saw the third one.)

Work on Transformers Legacy continues! I've been in touch with two more of the original artists, who have agreed to share their perspectives.  I've closed many gaps in my holding.  At this point, I'm missing fewer than 25 pieces to complete the US G1 lineup.  (Most of the gaps are Action Masters.)  I aim to get a few more this week too.

Work with the Transformers Collectors' Club continues! I just submitted a one-page article featuring... well, you'll just have to see.  It'll be cool.

That's it!  OctusJim Out!