Transformation 225: Hot Headed Hot Rod.

1/9/2016

This week it's a tale of two Shockwave's. The first is a master emotional maniplulator and the other... isn't.

Plus, the full page Combat Colin, the acknowledgement of why things have gone black and white plus Todd McFarlane.

All in my look at Aspects of Evil! 3.

Also, by my calculation, last week was actually the 250th Transformation counting all the specials and addendums. So a little late, but huzzah and thanks for reading.

8 Comments

Tim Roll-Pickering link

2/9/2016 03:28:37 pm

Was this the first issue to use a coarser paper for the middle eight pages? It's another sign of cost cutting with the side effect that more pages will end up in black & white, though ISTR some adverts retained colour.

The AoE segment almost feels like it was a rush job dropped into the existing storyline for whatever reason - Furman's normally good with Shockwave and the plan is pretty much the same as one he'll deploy in just nine issues' time. But then the serial format lends itself to extra episodes being dropped in at short notice.

I'd forgotten that MacFarlane had actually made it into print in the regular G.I. Joe - he also drew another issue that's coming up but for whatever reason his art was deemed unsuitable and was replaced by another artist, only seeing the light of day in a special at the end of the Marvel run, now that the artist was famous. All that said, this is an issue that Marvel UK could probably have skipped - most of the new characters get effective introductions elsewhere either in a later issue or in Action Force Monthly and I'm guessing from the time since the movie's release here means the new characters are aging toys. (And splitting the adventures over five weeks doesn't help much either.) Anything that could have sped things up a bit would have been welcome.

Stuart

2/9/2016 03:37:26 pm

*Duplicate posts...gone!*

Good catch on the paper, I'd meant to mention that but forgot.

Adding to the oddity of AoE, it's the only one before the Unicron wrap up not to promote any new toys.

Alex Smith link

2/9/2016 04:49:27 pm

I actually preferred the coarser paper for the black and white art (which, I must admit, I've always been a fan of) - it always felt wrong on the glossy stuff.

Alex Smith link

3/9/2016 05:38:20 pm

(In hindsight, a comment that would look equally at home on a bog roll forum. Parp!)

Ralph Burns

4/9/2016 05:50:28 pm

Funnily enough this was around the time the now very obscure Marvel UK title 'The Bog Paper' launched. I remember reading it until the issue with Doctor Phoo on the cover but now I see it made it past #2 after all!

http://comicvine.gamespot.com/bog-paper/4050-52576/

It was awful, even worse than 'It's Wicked!' (another Marvel UK attempt to a humour book on rubbish paper.

SPECIAL TEAMS!

Alex Smith link

7/9/2016 10:22:56 pm

Oh Ralph, I loved It's...Wicked. I think I managed to get every issue of that. Outside of the licensed Ghostbusters stuff there were some really strange strips - the one about the frog-like assistant to a wizard, which was largely silent and all in black-and-white, stuck in the mind particularly.

John D. link

6/9/2016 10:38:11 pm

Not enjoying the Wildman stick-man art, Baskerville really did help him reach much greater heights. Great discussion on last week's post, thanks again to the contributors. I am still puzzled as to why Mr Furman decided to have Unicron attack in the present day, when he knows this will completely upset the established continuity. Was he wanting to go epic to impress Marvel US?

Felicity link

21/11/2019 07:15:34 pm

This is an interesting interpretation, Shockwave as a Decepticon on the autism spectrum. Greater analytical intelligence but with the trade-off of lower emotional intelligence. It makes him more vulnerable.

The other problem with “emotionless” characters—this came up while my friend and I were watching the “Star Trek” episode “Journey to Babel”—is that any desire is an emotion, and any action originates from a desire. A truly emotionless character would have no reason to do anything. Sarek disapproves of Spock joining Starfleet instead of the Vulcan Science Academy? That’s an emotion. You can’t write a truly emotionless character unless they’re not sentient.

“GI Joe” #60 with the Todd McFarlane art is a cross between Todd McFarlane’s more individual style as seen in his 1988–1991 “Spider-Man” work and the regular style of “GI Joe,” by artists like Rod Whigham. In fact IIRC McFarlane pencilled but one of the regular “GI Joe” inkers inked over him, probably smoothing out his style so it looked more like other “GI Joe” comics. I like the result. It also demonstrates that for all his later messy stylisation McFaralane can actually draw.

Transformation 225: Hot Headed Hot Rod.

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