Transformation 202: Sexy Twins

25/3/2016

Time Wars starts to look like an actual war at long last as Megatron and Galvatron kill fan favourite characters like Battletrap and Chop Shop.

Plus, character development for old-enemeies-who-never-met-before-last-week Carnivac and Springer!

And does Galvatron remember what he actually remembers, or does the memory cheat?

All in my look at Time Wars Part 4!

22 Comments

Tim Roll-Pickering link

25/3/2016 05:00:49 pm

"Optimus reveals he can’t come back to reality due to he and Rodimus being past and future versions of one another (which of course they aren’t. It would make more sense if it was having the Matrix in the same place at the same time twice that was the issue)"

I'm guessing this is a leftover from an idea that successive Primes don't just hold the Matrix as a totem of leadership but are embued with the essence of Primus - when Rodimus confronted Unicron in Legacy the latter did address him as "Primus" and he should know better than any other. It's something that generally isn't touched on and can pretty much be ignored once Primus actually shows up but it's probably the one explanation for this point.

And this is a controversial point so I'll stick my neck out on this one - as originally written the Megatron here is the one who would go onto become Galvatron but for the twists of these events. It's pretty clear that both characters and Furman (and even the time rift?) are all assuming this, and given the later revelation then that would indeed mean there's a timeline where Galvatron is created from the Straxus-Megatron.

As for the battle - incredible, though the best moments are still to come.

Stuart

25/3/2016 05:37:01 pm

I'm completely with you on Straxatron, it's really the only assumption that makes any sense. That will definitely be something I go into in more depth when I try and unpick Two Megatron's.

Tim Roll-Pickering link

8/4/2016 10:45:55 pm

I have a nasty feeling that you will have to do a whole additional entry just to handle Two Megatrons - it's probably the single most controversial and wide-reaching retcon in the whole series.

John D. link

10/4/2016 12:13:17 am

2 Megatrons is a disgrace! What was Furman thinking? He was messing with the original "big bad" of the series - even if there were no new toys coming, the risk of Marvel US wanting to revisit the character was high. As I have said, I don't view the guy in time wars as megatron - it's easier just to think of him as some horribly powerful transformer galvatron somehow picked up.

Cradok

29/3/2016 09:56:23 am

I always took the 'versions of each other' line to just mean 'we've both got the Matrix'. Of course, at the time, nobody knew that PM Prime never physically carried the Matrix, so that still made sense.

Alex Smith link

25/3/2016 11:03:26 pm

Battletrap lives! All the way to G2 in fact. Which makes you wonder about the other casualties here...

Nathan webb

26/3/2016 02:18:16 am

On the surface walking into the enemy lair without weapons seems a bit short sighted but actually when you think of the alternative it makes perfect sense. Hand to hand combat against Galvertron and Megertron in a close environment where they can't use their weapons to full effect for fear of bringing the roof down on their heads. Had they waited for Megs a and Gal to come outside and engaged them in a fight fight the pair would have used their massive artillery pieces strapped to their arms to full effect straight away and simply obliterated the opposition with a few shots.
In my youth i was very unfortunate with my transformer toy selection, I had smoke screen who I think got smashed up in target 2006 never to be seen again, cyclonus who had his head ripped off by Megs, and I also had battle trap and twin twist who both died relatively easily in this story, I remember being gutted.
However this issue really had me on the edge of seat, what an awesome battle!

Chris Chapman

26/3/2016 11:15:08 am

This was my first issue of the comic! And it's scary how little you need to know about the previous 3 issues in order to get up to speed. Still, it made a huge impact on me - so violent and scary, I was entirely hooked. :-)

Ralph Burns

26/3/2016 01:40:40 pm

This issue is just too exciting for words. I just cannot critically appraise it as an adult at all. IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!

SPECIAL TEAMS!

Nathan webb

26/3/2016 02:20:37 pm

You referenced hammer horror's twins of evil as being soft core. You've clearly not seen this cult classic as I can assure you, theres only one single scene of sex and nudity in the whole film and its brief. It's a common misconception that all hammer horror films are filled to the rafters with sex and nudity but this is actually only true of their latter films. And Peter Cushing plays a character colder than Grand Mof Tarkin in this one.

Stuart

26/3/2016 05:40:35 pm

One scene is enough at my age.

John D. link

26/3/2016 10:18:21 pm

Surely you mean *was enough*, ahem. Yeah this issue was fun, I used to absolutely hate Dan reed's stuff but I appreciate he must have done well here. I think as I get older I appreciate Its merits a bit more - a bit like "Withnail and I" or David Bowie's "Fame". It's loose and messy and a lot of fun. Even makes me wish for more shots of the pages! I don't think anybody answered my "why wasn't there a power master megatron" enquiry (though k fear it may have been answered previously and I can't remember the answer). Megatron the toy was a bit of a shambles, loss of kibble and loads of plastic add-one that my mum wasted no time whatsoever in binning as she tidied up. Sigh.

Stuart

26/3/2016 10:47:38 pm

No PM Megs because we're about six months from the Classics Heroes starting the trend for new toys of old characters properly.

Goldbug is an oddity (presumably Bumblebee was too good a seller to drop. And then they still changed the name meaning that, as with Galvatron you'd have to be paying attention to know he was a new old guy) and PM Prime is a specific reaction to the outrage over his removal in the film.

It's actually odd that G.I. Joe was recycling characters so much earlier, with Transformers it's basically a last desperate attempt to turn the declining popularity when it really kicks in with Action Masters.

I'd love to know why Overlord didn't get a Western release at the time, presumably Scorponok didn't sell well enough to make doing the big leader Cons worthwhile anymore.

John D. link

29/3/2016 12:00:20 pm

Scorponok was a great toy, I was lucky enough to have him. What did he "retail at"? Was he the most expensive TF toy? I had metroplex and Scorponok was a bit bigger I'm sure. I am pretty sure in the dialogue OP is a bit loose on whether he really thinks RP is a "future version" of himself. I think the vibe is "it's too big a risk". It's a nice plot device to keep him away from Galvatron until the last possible moment.

snowkatt

30/3/2016 01:04:30 am

Fortress Maximus was the most expensive G1 toy
He retailed for $ 79.99 ( no idea about his British price tag )

Scorponok was $38 http://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/original-cost-of-g1-transformers-t48327.php

And Scorponok is about half the size of Max http://static.seibertron.com/images/toys/files/04/r_scorponok-258.jpg

bouncelot

30/3/2016 04:35:19 pm

Fort Max didn't have a British price tag, as he was never released over here.

Tim Roll-Pickering link

30/3/2016 05:23:32 pm

Actually he did very briefly - a small number showed up in Hamleys in 1994 as part of Generation 2.

Alex Smith link

1/4/2016 07:21:29 pm

I remember seeing one of those Fort Max's in Hamley's - they had a loose one on top of a shelf (attached to it by the ankle). Once I'd gotten over the shock of seeing the beggar I remember desperately trying to yank his head off so I could see Cerebros. I reckon they'd superglued the bastard on.

Still the closest I've ever come to a G1 Fort Max, and the closest I ever will unless I win the lottery or resume my life of crime.

Tim Roll-Pickering link

1/4/2016 07:39:05 pm

Erm yes. When I saw him, Cerebros was loose though Spike was absent. I did take the head off to see how he transformed and then couldn't get it back on. Maybe that's why they fixed him by the time you got there.

Alex Smith link

2/4/2016 10:37:10 pm

Good to have someone to blame for me not being able to shoplift Cerebros ;)

snowkatt

30/3/2016 01:07:19 am

Max could also be 99,99
Sources seem to disagree about his price tag
Let's just say between $80 to 100

John D. link

8/4/2016 09:44:08 pm

Thanks guys I can see on the TF Wiki that fort max stood a massive 8 inches (fnarr) taller than Scorponok! Wow. So there was one in hamlets with a glued head?

Transformation 202: Sexy Twins

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