Transformation 219: Skids Row.

21/7/2016

It's the return of everyone's favourite minivan, but being trapped in limbo for two years has changed him. And I don't just mean his face.

Also, there's massive swords and bored holes aplenty as the question of Transformers gender is finally addressed as Cloudurst pulls.

It's all in my look at ISSUE 219.

16 Comments

Ryan F

22/7/2016 05:42:03 pm

Dunno if you can get hold of a copy, but the US issue with Recipe From Disaster in it has a more detailed explanation of the male/female Transformers thing (it was on the letters page), including where Arcee fits in.

Given the lead times, and the whole synchronicity of this letter about gender winding up in the same issue that tackles the subject... I wouldn't be surprised if Budiansky saw the letter first, said "Hey, let's explore this" and took it from there.

Stuart

22/7/2016 08:01:31 pm

Now that's interesting. I'd imagine it's a letter they got a lot though (especially after Arcee) so it could be they just decided to run one of them now there was an answer.

Mind, Bob was clearly grabbing inspiration anywhere he could now.

Ryan F

22/7/2016 09:56:41 pm

Just dug it out. Here's the exact quote:

‘Transformers have no gender! Since the Transformers do not reproduce sexually, they have no need to be male or female. Most have characteristics that are commonly associated with males, so they are referred to as “he’s”. On a rare occasion, one might come across as female and is referred to as a “she”. Arcee fits into this latter category, but referring to themselves as “he’s” and “she’s” is a convention the Transformers probably picked up from hanging around Earthlings too long’.

bouncelot

22/7/2016 10:28:01 pm

Quite enjoying the caption to one of the images. "Five Minuets earlier they were passing the time with a sing song". Typos are so much better when they give a sentence a different meaning altogether.

Ralph Burns

22/7/2016 11:02:25 pm

If you're covering the German stories, have you seen the translated fanzine Matt Marshall put out of the text material that accompanied the wacky recolours of some of the B&W UK stories?

SPECIAL TEAMS!

Stuart

23/7/2016 01:01:00 am

The PDF of that is the bery thing I'll be using. :)

Simon Hall

23/7/2016 07:39:20 am

I have to be honest, I really like the whole Mechannibals / Planet Of The 50ft Warriror Women. I dunno, there's just something charming about it, like the re-runs of those old '60s shows Channel 4 went through around the early '90s. It has that same sort of kitsch vibe.

I liked the handling of gender here (and in that letters page response).

As for Dan Reed, I really enjoyed his B&W art in this story and it works fine for me without the colour. Although I'd never noticed before how melted one of Inferno's legs looks. Had he been sitting too close to the fire?

tigerbread

24/7/2016 03:20:57 am

Megatron had stamped on Inferno's leg during Time Wars, good of Reed to remember.

Stuart

24/7/2016 04:13:54 am

There we go, nothing is random. ;)

Simon Hall

23/7/2016 07:41:16 am

Also, you attended a convention in 2104?! What was it like? Is the air really clean? Do the cars fly through the sky?

Tetsuryu

23/7/2016 04:34:58 pm

I'm not sure what is more impressive, Stuart possessing time travel or Budiansky and Delbo living to the ripe age of 150 and 170 respectively!

Stuart

23/7/2016 06:27:34 pm

I can't speak too much of the future, you don't want to know what's going to happen to you.

Cradok

30/8/2016 11:57:24 am

I never quite knew why the remaining Wreckers never linked up with the rest of the Autobots, Maybe they were expecting to be collected by mummy Prime but he was too busy dealing with Galvatron and Starscream and did the Earth Autobots even know the Wreckers and Mayhems were even there for Time Wars? And how does the thing with the Mayhems and the Pretender shells even fit in?

Ah well, it gave us Survivors, so I'll forgive. This is my Skids rather than the MTMtE one - sorry James - and I always respond to people complaining G1 Inferno is boring with 'Future badass, Wrecker, Survivor'.

Snowkatt link

14/4/2017 02:42:38 pm

And this is the point where I came in.
The first tf uk comic I read somewhere in 2001.

So off course it has the execrable mechanibals storyline in it !

but at least it got better right ? ...Right

Stuart

14/4/2017 02:52:41 pm

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Felicity link

20/11/2019 12:04:54 am

Since Transformers have no inherent gender, this could mean that, once they become aware of gender as a concept, they could choose a gender that best fits their identity (or choose not to have one, if that works better for them).

I liked the Micromasters. Sadly I sold all of mine in 1999 when a collector offered a good price for them, but I enjoyed them while I had them. They were enjoyable characters in the upcoming Furman/Delbo stories too.

Transformation 219: Skids Row.

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