Girlfriend in a Coma, I Know, I Know, It’s Serious.
Addendum 8: Zero Point. January 2012.
Sorry, Springer. I just—no more fiction.
One inevitability when you’re writing about the writing of James Roberts and using song lyrics to title the articles, you’ll wind up using a Morrissey line. But that will be absolutely the only one to show up here.
Zero Point is that rare thing in IDW, a text story. All of which will be written by Roberts (this is actually the second as I’m leaving the big Wreckers related one till last in this non-linear look through the extras), and was originally an exclusive to the hardback trade, published alongside the first issue of Roberts ongoing Transformers comic, two years after the miniseries.
Which means it has a lot of foreshadowing for both that book, plus things Nick was obviously fermenting for the long-delayed Wreckers sequel.
In the aftermath of the final battle on Garrus 9 (again, I’m doing this as I go along to spread it out, but these extra stories are all meant to be read after issue 5), the comatose Springer is brought to Wrecker base Debris, with pretty much the only guy left standing Roadbuster not pleased to hear that Springer is physically fine, but not able to make the “Zero Point”, a link between spark and body.
Luckily, Kup’s old friend Rung (the idea Rung would be remembered enough by anyone to have an old friend is odd in retrospect) has a potential solution: Provoke an emotional reaction by talking to Springer about old times.
So, not being especially bright, Roadbuster learns to read and struggles through “Fisitron’s” datalogs of the Wreckers adventures, gratuitous Furmanisms and all. All except log 113, the only one to be completely made up. All whilst hoping Springer’s Matrix blue eyes will light up again.
Meanwhile, in a state between life and death, Springer remembers first seeing Impactor in the battle on Sherma bridge, being recruited, and slowly making more and more excuses to justify the increasingly extreme behaviour of the Wreckers over the years. Until things came to a head on Pova.
But he was reassured that, in the build-up to Impactor’s trial, that every other member of the team (except Sandstorm, was Roberts out of space, or did Barber already have certain plans in place?), came up to him to say they were equally horrified by Impactor, are glad Springer has acted, and are worried this could mean the end of the Wreckers and want Springer to take over as leader to make things better.
Back in reality, as Roadbuster finally has enough of reading, he admits everyone was actually fine with Impactor, and it was just that Springer didn’t get both what the Wreckers were and that he brought out the worst in Impactor more than anyone. And everyone independently “Spontaneously” coming up to him and asking him to take over had been planned so as to stroke his ego and stop him turning all of them in as well.
But, even if it took them a long time to realise it, he was the best leader the Wreckers ever had, and made them better. Roadbuster can’t do it for the others, but on his own behalf, he apologies.
At which point, Springer’s eyes become blue once more…
This is just very good. I’ve always felt James Roberts is at heart more a prose writer than a comic one, and he can write some damn good comics, and he really knocks it out the park here. It’s funny, dark, and uplifting. Often in the same paragraph. We have a writer who manages to make Roadbuster being almost too dumb to live not seem over-done and still bring some real pathos in for him at the end, just two pages after he was having to run his trigger finger along the words as he read.
You’ve also got some the aforementioned foreshadowing, such as Rung being Kup old and Ultra Magnus is mentioned as being a rare survivor of a Zero Point injury. There’s also at least a hint of abandoned plans, as Springer first sees Impactor at an epic battle at Sherma Bridge, something alluded to in the earlier published Chaos Theory, but other stories delving into the pre-war period would mean Roberts would wind up having to give a very different reason for that bridge being infamous. It’s especially amusing here that the bridge is by a memorial statue to Zeta Prime, something those self-same other stories will make very unlikely to have ever happened.
It also gives us sad and lonely Roadbuster and the idea of Kup and Impactor as Springer’s father and brother respectively, two things that Nick will come back too hard.
I think the only really weak point is Roadbuster claiming the Pova Datalog is the only outright wrong one, everything else is broadly true. Which is completely at odds with what we see of the rose-tinted eyes and generally clueless as to what the Wreckers really were Ironfist in the miniseries. It’s the fan boy in Roberts writing there, thinking of the Wiki rather than the story. Hell, even here, Ironfist basically has no context for why Impactor would shout “NO MORE POETRY!” at Megatron in a fight and just guesses. All his stories would be knocked off course in a similar way.
But, if that’s the only flaw, that makes for a very good story, and this really is exceptionally well done.
There’s even a meta joke about deluxe trades, as Roadbuster is using the collected edition of Fisitron’s work, with a deeply insincere introduction by Prowl. Which someone needs to write.
Next week, will Mike Costa recover from his own Zero Point?
LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS ISSUE 2
2010
COMMENT
KO-FI
Sorry, Springer. I just—no more fiction.
One inevitability when you’re writing about the writing of James Roberts and using song lyrics to title the articles, you’ll wind up using a Morrissey line. But that will be absolutely the only one to show up here.
Zero Point is that rare thing in IDW, a text story. All of which will be written by Roberts (this is actually the second as I’m leaving the big Wreckers related one till last in this non-linear look through the extras), and was originally an exclusive to the hardback trade, published alongside the first issue of Roberts ongoing Transformers comic, two years after the miniseries.
Which means it has a lot of foreshadowing for both that book, plus things Nick was obviously fermenting for the long-delayed Wreckers sequel.
In the aftermath of the final battle on Garrus 9 (again, I’m doing this as I go along to spread it out, but these extra stories are all meant to be read after issue 5), the comatose Springer is brought to Wrecker base Debris, with pretty much the only guy left standing Roadbuster not pleased to hear that Springer is physically fine, but not able to make the “Zero Point”, a link between spark and body.
Luckily, Kup’s old friend Rung (the idea Rung would be remembered enough by anyone to have an old friend is odd in retrospect) has a potential solution: Provoke an emotional reaction by talking to Springer about old times.
So, not being especially bright, Roadbuster learns to read and struggles through “Fisitron’s” datalogs of the Wreckers adventures, gratuitous Furmanisms and all. All except log 113, the only one to be completely made up. All whilst hoping Springer’s Matrix blue eyes will light up again.
Meanwhile, in a state between life and death, Springer remembers first seeing Impactor in the battle on Sherma bridge, being recruited, and slowly making more and more excuses to justify the increasingly extreme behaviour of the Wreckers over the years. Until things came to a head on Pova.
But he was reassured that, in the build-up to Impactor’s trial, that every other member of the team (except Sandstorm, was Roberts out of space, or did Barber already have certain plans in place?), came up to him to say they were equally horrified by Impactor, are glad Springer has acted, and are worried this could mean the end of the Wreckers and want Springer to take over as leader to make things better.
Back in reality, as Roadbuster finally has enough of reading, he admits everyone was actually fine with Impactor, and it was just that Springer didn’t get both what the Wreckers were and that he brought out the worst in Impactor more than anyone. And everyone independently “Spontaneously” coming up to him and asking him to take over had been planned so as to stroke his ego and stop him turning all of them in as well.
But, even if it took them a long time to realise it, he was the best leader the Wreckers ever had, and made them better. Roadbuster can’t do it for the others, but on his own behalf, he apologies.
At which point, Springer’s eyes become blue once more…
This is just very good. I’ve always felt James Roberts is at heart more a prose writer than a comic one, and he can write some damn good comics, and he really knocks it out the park here. It’s funny, dark, and uplifting. Often in the same paragraph. We have a writer who manages to make Roadbuster being almost too dumb to live not seem over-done and still bring some real pathos in for him at the end, just two pages after he was having to run his trigger finger along the words as he read.
You’ve also got some the aforementioned foreshadowing, such as Rung being Kup old and Ultra Magnus is mentioned as being a rare survivor of a Zero Point injury. There’s also at least a hint of abandoned plans, as Springer first sees Impactor at an epic battle at Sherma Bridge, something alluded to in the earlier published Chaos Theory, but other stories delving into the pre-war period would mean Roberts would wind up having to give a very different reason for that bridge being infamous. It’s especially amusing here that the bridge is by a memorial statue to Zeta Prime, something those self-same other stories will make very unlikely to have ever happened.
It also gives us sad and lonely Roadbuster and the idea of Kup and Impactor as Springer’s father and brother respectively, two things that Nick will come back too hard.
I think the only really weak point is Roadbuster claiming the Pova Datalog is the only outright wrong one, everything else is broadly true. Which is completely at odds with what we see of the rose-tinted eyes and generally clueless as to what the Wreckers really were Ironfist in the miniseries. It’s the fan boy in Roberts writing there, thinking of the Wiki rather than the story. Hell, even here, Ironfist basically has no context for why Impactor would shout “NO MORE POETRY!” at Megatron in a fight and just guesses. All his stories would be knocked off course in a similar way.
But, if that’s the only flaw, that makes for a very good story, and this really is exceptionally well done.
There’s even a meta joke about deluxe trades, as Roadbuster is using the collected edition of Fisitron’s work, with a deeply insincere introduction by Prowl. Which someone needs to write.
Next week, will Mike Costa recover from his own Zero Point?
LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS ISSUE 2
2010
COMMENT
KO-FI
