
All in my look at:
Target: 2006 Part 3!
Next week's entry will (hopefully) be joined by something that may well become an annual event if it goes down well, the 2013 Christmas Quiz! Which will have actual prizes.
Just not very good ones.
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![]() This week things get dark, very dark. Ironhide muses on the decisions that saw the Autobots royally fuck up and Galvatron becomes the only Evil Villain Time Traveller in history not to want to alter history. The scamp. All in my look at: Target: 2006 Part 3! Next week's entry will (hopefully) be joined by something that may well become an annual event if it goes down well, the 2013 Christmas Quiz! Which will have actual prizes. Just not very good ones.
21 Comments
29/11/2013 12:57:18 pm
I guess Jetfire assumed command in line with the wall chart guide earlier in the year - IIRC he's the "Aerospace Commander" (in line with his tech specs?) though exactly what he's normally in command of is one of those question we just weren't expected to ask. With Prime and one second-in-command plus the "honorary member of the High Command" all missing and the other 2iC captured then the leadership probably wound up being inherited more than anything else. And this issue just shows why such a detailed order of succession can be silly hence later leadership questions get settled rather differently.
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Simon Hall
29/11/2013 02:39:04 pm
Good to hear some nice things said about Jeff Anderson. I like his work on Transformers. I know its not as thrusting and dynamic as some artists, but I just like how solid and dependable his stuff is. His upcoming work in Prey is some of my favourite Transformers art. His contribution is very much overlooked these days, but I love it. Its just good stuff :) If you're out there Jeff, I hope you are well!
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Chris Chapman
29/11/2013 02:59:36 pm
I think this could be my favourite ever issue of TF UK. The whole thing has such a wonderfully grim and nightmarish atmosphere - I love it.
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Stuart
30/11/2013 11:41:41 am
Pippin rings a bell, just about. I was always a Beano man myself.
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simon hall
30/11/2013 02:54:38 pm
oh wow, I didn't know that. I knew he'd done a graphic novel version of the bible - which is really good and has some of the best art I've seen of his - so that all slots into place.
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30/11/2013 05:53:16 pm
I've long-loved Jeff Anderson's work on Transformers. I'm glad his work on 'Prey' had been mentioned, as that full-page splash of a torn-up Optimus Prime is one of my favourite pieces of Transformers work.
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Nick
2/12/2013 05:36:27 am
For some reason, I took a several month break from 'Transformers' and this was the first issue I picked up, probably since the Dinobots/Constructicons fight. It was a real shock. Very bleak as Transformers stories go and the first real display of Galvatron's raw power. That panel of him shaking off the Autobots' assault is awesome with the caption 'and he just stood there and laughed.' It reminded me of one of the earlier stories where Earth troops opened fire on Megatron to no avail. I loved the Hercules backup strip - thought it was loads of fun and Layton draws the best Herc around. I met him earlier this year at London Super Comic Con and he clearly loved putting together that comic.
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Nick
6/12/2013 07:34:40 am
Yeah, so that teaches me to comment before reading the blog ... Stu drew the same comparison I did. On command, I'd have thought Ironhide ranked quite highly, being Prime's Head of Security? Probably not above Jetfire though. This was a weird story in that Jetfire was drawn at 'normal' Autobot size, where he was twice the size of Prime or Megatron in the cartoon.
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6/12/2013 08:14:52 am
The chart gives Ironhide's rank as "Security Officer" but plonks him amongst "Technicians" rather than "High Command". Overall the chart makes the top Autobots Optimus Prime (Commander), Prowl, Jazz (joint Second-in-Commands), Jetfire (Aerospace Commander) and Mirage (Military Intelligence Officer) plus Ratchet is an "Honorary Member of the High Command". So that's possibly why Mirage is the first to be targetted and Ironhide's position is more functional than hierarchical.
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Nick
6/12/2013 08:40:09 am
Hnnsk. Obviously Wheeljack's a technician but I remember reading somewhere that he ranked extremely highly - think he had a tech specs rank of '8' or some such and so was next in line after Prowl and Jazz. I'm surprised that a sneaky 'erbert like Mirage was awarded such a high rank.
Nick
6/12/2013 07:34:51 am
Yeah, so that teaches me to comment before reading the blog ... Stu drew the same comparison I did. On command, I'd have thought Ironhide ranked quite highly, being Prime's Head of Security? Probably not above Jetfire though. This was a weird story in that Jetfire was drawn at 'normal' Autobot size, where he was twice the size of Prime or Megatron in the cartoon.
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Stuart Webb
6/12/2013 09:29:11 am
I won't delete the double comment as from the website control panel... thingey it's not clear which one the replies are for. That is annoying though isn't it? I've no idea why it happens.
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Nick
6/12/2013 02:54:11 pm
You might be interested to hear Bob did a follow-up in 'Marvel Comics Presents', taking us a couple of decades past this adventure and introducing Hercules' son. Herc's great, anyway, I'm glad he's getting more attention from Marvel nowadays and has broken away from Thor's shadow a little.
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Auntie Slag
6/12/2013 10:32:50 am
This was a really great story undermined by two things:
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Nick
6/12/2013 02:51:40 pm
Ratchet and Ironhide are basically the same design though, right, except Ratchet has that weird 'chevron' crest and Ironhide has a Mr T mohawk? Agreed that Ironhide seems like an Autobot stripped down to bare essentials, no fuss, no nothing but I liked that about him. I probably preferred the cartoon colour scheme which mixed the red with a bit of grey but I thought his look fit his personality - big, tough, no-nonsense and no-frills.
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snowkatt
23/12/2013 01:26:41 pm
but ratchet always had a personality
Nick
30/12/2013 01:42:06 am
I was talking more about their look. Ratchet was a cool character in G1, both comics and cartoon.
Nick
24/12/2013 12:06:35 am
I dunno, I thought Ironhide was one of the most well-rounded Autobots in the cartoon. The only guys who probably received more attention were Prime and Bumblebee, possibly Jazz but he was very one-dimensional.
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snowkatt
24/12/2013 10:00:19 am
i think thats more a condemnation of how shallow one dimensional and flat the cartoon characters truly were beyond voice acting and a accent
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Nick
30/12/2013 01:40:12 am
I dunno, he was brave, tough, stubborn, temperamental, headstrong and dependable. That's about 5 more character traits than most of the Autobot cars. In most cases, it seemed like the writers glanced at the toy bio, chucked in a token line to conform with it and then forgot about the character in question forever. I figured Mirage might become a major character after 'Arrival From Cybertron', especially because he had a more interesting personality than most Autobots, but it never happened. My favourite Autobot car was Bluestreak - in one episode, he cracked a joke at Hound's expense and in all the others, he was basically just any other Autobot soldier, albeit a very fast one. Sideswipe was another of my favourites and I don't think he got anything at all.
Felicity
8/9/2016 08:08:06 am
IIRC Jetfire was among the group of Autobot officers called together to select a new leader in US issue #26, since all of them “occupy a position of leadership” in the Autobots, which was a neat idea.
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AuthorStuart Webb. Who knows everything about nothing and not a lot about that. Archives
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