Look at Me, I am Old, but I am Happy.
Transformers Generation 2, Halloween Special, Issues 1-12. September 1993-August 1994.
With my final conscious thought, I pray that my legacy does not prove a hollow one.
A couple of years after the line had ended in America, Hasbro decided to attempt to revive Transformers. Which is a fairly standard thing to have done, even then (don’t let anyone tell you the era of reboots and remakes is only a recent one), after all G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero was still just about going and that was a revamp of a toy-line that had reached its natural endpoint prior to Larry Hama getting his hands on it.
The odd thing though is how half-arsed they went about it, as if they wanted to spend the absolute minimal amount of money on it. The line started with a mass re-release of 1984/85 toys that were already looking very old fashioned by 93, coupled with various late G1 European toys that they were totally out of place next to (the most prominent new toy being tank Megatron, as a Walther P38 was not going to stand a chance on toy shelves at this point). Generation 2 did wind up giving us some great toys, Laser Rod Optimus being the most famous, but by then it was too little, too late.
Of course, Transformers toy-lines have succeeded without great product before and after, but the media tie-ins were just as poorly thought through. Including the name of the brand, Generation 2 and the emphasis on it being a continuation of the original series can’t have made it that appealing to the younger buyer.
The cartoon meanwhile was just episodes of the original series re-edited to put awkward CGI into them, shown in a random and unhelpful order and again looking pretty creaky next to the more contemporary offerings. The sense very much is of a toy company faffing about without any real idea of what to do with their product.
Which wound up working for the G2 comic. Hasbro seem to have been the ones very much pushing for it to happen over an apathetic Marvel, ultimately financing the series themselves to guarantee it last for 12 issues as the main new promotion for the toy-line. And they then seem to show almost no interest in it, and certainly didn’t seem to care if it featured any of the new toys until whoever was reading scripts for approval woke up suddenly near the end of the run and there’s a rather half-hearted attempt to push some of them.
This, alongside Marvel’s disinterest, effectively gave Furman the greatest freedom he has ever had as a writer on the franchise, over and beyond the later G1 or early IDW stuff where the publisher at least cared. Which isn’t automatically a good thing as he frequently does better on a tighter leash, but here it pays dividends.
With my final conscious thought, I pray that my legacy does not prove a hollow one.
A couple of years after the line had ended in America, Hasbro decided to attempt to revive Transformers. Which is a fairly standard thing to have done, even then (don’t let anyone tell you the era of reboots and remakes is only a recent one), after all G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero was still just about going and that was a revamp of a toy-line that had reached its natural endpoint prior to Larry Hama getting his hands on it.
The odd thing though is how half-arsed they went about it, as if they wanted to spend the absolute minimal amount of money on it. The line started with a mass re-release of 1984/85 toys that were already looking very old fashioned by 93, coupled with various late G1 European toys that they were totally out of place next to (the most prominent new toy being tank Megatron, as a Walther P38 was not going to stand a chance on toy shelves at this point). Generation 2 did wind up giving us some great toys, Laser Rod Optimus being the most famous, but by then it was too little, too late.
Of course, Transformers toy-lines have succeeded without great product before and after, but the media tie-ins were just as poorly thought through. Including the name of the brand, Generation 2 and the emphasis on it being a continuation of the original series can’t have made it that appealing to the younger buyer.
The cartoon meanwhile was just episodes of the original series re-edited to put awkward CGI into them, shown in a random and unhelpful order and again looking pretty creaky next to the more contemporary offerings. The sense very much is of a toy company faffing about without any real idea of what to do with their product.
Which wound up working for the G2 comic. Hasbro seem to have been the ones very much pushing for it to happen over an apathetic Marvel, ultimately financing the series themselves to guarantee it last for 12 issues as the main new promotion for the toy-line. And they then seem to show almost no interest in it, and certainly didn’t seem to care if it featured any of the new toys until whoever was reading scripts for approval woke up suddenly near the end of the run and there’s a rather half-hearted attempt to push some of them.
This, alongside Marvel’s disinterest, effectively gave Furman the greatest freedom he has ever had as a writer on the franchise, over and beyond the later G1 or early IDW stuff where the publisher at least cared. Which isn’t automatically a good thing as he frequently does better on a tighter leash, but here it pays dividends.
Not that this would have been obvious to readers who picked up the free sample “Halloween” issue put out to comic and toy stores, Ghosts, which is just a quick run-around on an alien planet with a gag that it’s defended by bigger and nastier aliens than the warring Cybertronians. What is notable though is that Geoff Senior draws it rather than the series regular artist Derek Yaniger, showing that the delays were already hitting his work this early. Though Senior adds so much, including once again making Bumblebee cool, it elevates the non-events around it.
The other thing to note is that it is entirely filled with old characters, with the one concession being some, like Sideswipe, that have been re-released in the new line sporting their new colours. Considering it is out of continuity with the main series (it’s not clear if it was always going to be reprinted in issue 2, or if that was desperation down to the art delays) something like the first UK issue rammed with the new guys could have been done. Instead, we get the likes of Hot Rod, Kup, Bludgeon and a cast rammed with folk not on shelves. Right from the off, there’s an apathy towards the new characters.
Which carries on into the first issue proper, War Without End! (good title), as things kick off with an action scene of various re-released Autobots attacking a planet alongside... Hound and Broadside. Indeed, Hound gets a decent sized role in the first few issues despite Furman having no real interest in the character before (the last time he featured him was Target: 2006) or after (where he sort of loiters as Sideswipe’s annoyed boss for a couple of issues). Imagine being a kid reading this and immediately wanting to go out and buy the toys of these guys. What a disappointment.
The meat though comes from what they’re doing. Generation 2 is often accused (often by its author) of being super-90’s, all big guns and super violence. And visually it certainly follow that aesthetic, with the style Yaniger sets being to show the clean and bright 80’s designs as looking like they’d been through hell.
But it is also subversive. The opening of the issue is designed to make it look as if the Autobots are ruthlessly attacking an innocent planet and brutally killing the locals. But instead it turns out they are stopping Jhiaxus’ Cybertronians from “Cyberforming” the planet and saving the real natives, though they themselves aren’t exactly grateful to the robot killing machines.
This continues into the rest of the issue where, as we’ve already seen, Grimlock summons Optimus Prime (plagued by nightmares) and tells him he’s discovered a mass of new Cybertrons that could not possibly have been made by Bludgeon. Which is when they’re attacked and captured by Jhiaxus’ troops and it is explained to them at length that a group of Deceptions left Cybertron whilst the Ark was dormant, leaving the planet under the rule of that idiot Straxus and setting out to build their own empire that is now ruthless and massive and no longer acknowledges either Autobot or Decepticon. They are the new, or second if you will, generation and have no time for relics.
The other thing to note is that it is entirely filled with old characters, with the one concession being some, like Sideswipe, that have been re-released in the new line sporting their new colours. Considering it is out of continuity with the main series (it’s not clear if it was always going to be reprinted in issue 2, or if that was desperation down to the art delays) something like the first UK issue rammed with the new guys could have been done. Instead, we get the likes of Hot Rod, Kup, Bludgeon and a cast rammed with folk not on shelves. Right from the off, there’s an apathy towards the new characters.
Which carries on into the first issue proper, War Without End! (good title), as things kick off with an action scene of various re-released Autobots attacking a planet alongside... Hound and Broadside. Indeed, Hound gets a decent sized role in the first few issues despite Furman having no real interest in the character before (the last time he featured him was Target: 2006) or after (where he sort of loiters as Sideswipe’s annoyed boss for a couple of issues). Imagine being a kid reading this and immediately wanting to go out and buy the toys of these guys. What a disappointment.
The meat though comes from what they’re doing. Generation 2 is often accused (often by its author) of being super-90’s, all big guns and super violence. And visually it certainly follow that aesthetic, with the style Yaniger sets being to show the clean and bright 80’s designs as looking like they’d been through hell.
But it is also subversive. The opening of the issue is designed to make it look as if the Autobots are ruthlessly attacking an innocent planet and brutally killing the locals. But instead it turns out they are stopping Jhiaxus’ Cybertronians from “Cyberforming” the planet and saving the real natives, though they themselves aren’t exactly grateful to the robot killing machines.
This continues into the rest of the issue where, as we’ve already seen, Grimlock summons Optimus Prime (plagued by nightmares) and tells him he’s discovered a mass of new Cybertrons that could not possibly have been made by Bludgeon. Which is when they’re attacked and captured by Jhiaxus’ troops and it is explained to them at length that a group of Deceptions left Cybertron whilst the Ark was dormant, leaving the planet under the rule of that idiot Straxus and setting out to build their own empire that is now ruthless and massive and no longer acknowledges either Autobot or Decepticon. They are the new, or second if you will, generation and have no time for relics.
This pulling back of the scale is one of the most impressive tricks Furman ever pulled, out leads have been stuck in an irrelevant sideshow for the last decade, carrying on their own petty struggle whilst the real evil went on unchecked in the larger galaxy.
Seeing Prime broken by this news is genuinely affecting, as is Grimock’s counter argument that refutes the 90’s style. Maybe they have failed to see the bigger picture, but their time on Earth has taught them to see the small picture, to care about the individuals caught up in their war and to fight for them (including a flashback to Buster Witwicky and the Carwash of Doom!), it’s especially impressive to hear Grimlock talk like this and show’s genuine character development on his part that actually carries through the rest of the series. So as Prime’s team break out of their cell and escape, the stage is set for an excellent series.
Which we don’t get straight away. The 12 issue minimum thing often has people talk about G2 as if it is a carefully plotted maxi-series. But it doesn’t start like that, instead running more like the original series, stand-alone issues feeding into a bigger whole as part of what was intended to be an ongoing comic. Which also results in variable quality.
So the second issue (padded out by the Ghosts reprint) deals with the fallout from the G.I. Joe crossover. But, as Biggles-Jones could easily have been left behind there (and will never be mentioned by Hama ever again) and the technology Megatron gave Cobra was already established as useless, the only actual contributions to the plot here are killing Spike and Fortress Maximus and blowing up the Ark. As we never needed to see the Witwicky again, especially as it’s the same “Spike quits... then doesn’t” plot done twice before, and the Ark’s destruction means little as Megatron would have come back to Earth for Bludgeon anyway, it adds nothing to the series and almost immediately kills its momentum.
The same applies to the third issue, which is, the lead strip of which, Primal Fear!, is just a rehash of Distant Thunder! that does nothing but establish that Jhiaxus is an insane evil despot who has tried desperately to reform and become an insane evil despot who really focuses on paperwork. Which is a good gag and feels like a years ahead of its time satire of villains who attempt to reform, up to and including More Than Meets the Eye Megatron.
The two issues we’ve already talked about may contain some problems, particularly in relation to the dodgy eugenics I’ve already pulled apart, but is really the point where things start to come together and you can sense Furman found out the series wouldn’t be continuing past the 12th issue so things become a lot more focused.
Seeing Prime broken by this news is genuinely affecting, as is Grimock’s counter argument that refutes the 90’s style. Maybe they have failed to see the bigger picture, but their time on Earth has taught them to see the small picture, to care about the individuals caught up in their war and to fight for them (including a flashback to Buster Witwicky and the Carwash of Doom!), it’s especially impressive to hear Grimlock talk like this and show’s genuine character development on his part that actually carries through the rest of the series. So as Prime’s team break out of their cell and escape, the stage is set for an excellent series.
Which we don’t get straight away. The 12 issue minimum thing often has people talk about G2 as if it is a carefully plotted maxi-series. But it doesn’t start like that, instead running more like the original series, stand-alone issues feeding into a bigger whole as part of what was intended to be an ongoing comic. Which also results in variable quality.
So the second issue (padded out by the Ghosts reprint) deals with the fallout from the G.I. Joe crossover. But, as Biggles-Jones could easily have been left behind there (and will never be mentioned by Hama ever again) and the technology Megatron gave Cobra was already established as useless, the only actual contributions to the plot here are killing Spike and Fortress Maximus and blowing up the Ark. As we never needed to see the Witwicky again, especially as it’s the same “Spike quits... then doesn’t” plot done twice before, and the Ark’s destruction means little as Megatron would have come back to Earth for Bludgeon anyway, it adds nothing to the series and almost immediately kills its momentum.
The same applies to the third issue, which is, the lead strip of which, Primal Fear!, is just a rehash of Distant Thunder! that does nothing but establish that Jhiaxus is an insane evil despot who has tried desperately to reform and become an insane evil despot who really focuses on paperwork. Which is a good gag and feels like a years ahead of its time satire of villains who attempt to reform, up to and including More Than Meets the Eye Megatron.
The two issues we’ve already talked about may contain some problems, particularly in relation to the dodgy eugenics I’ve already pulled apart, but is really the point where things start to come together and you can sense Furman found out the series wouldn’t be continuing past the 12th issue so things become a lot more focused.
The sixth issue, which is also the point where the break between the two stories becomes arbitrary, sees the series become fully formed as Megatron and Prime fight on a devastated Earth, with Optimus losing and the Matrix being taken from him, allowing the first major bit of new toy promotion as Megatron uses it to revive Bludgeon’s army of new Decepticons.
G2 Megatron is basically the Beast Wars version two years early, deeply sarcastic and dangerous, but you can’t help but route for him, and the relationship between him and Prime becomes the bedrock of the series as, after Megatron gets a severe ass kicking from Jhiaxus, the two sides unite against their new enemy (and spot the subtext of Generation One taking on Generation Two and winning).
The back-end of the run then becomes one big story, showing the alliance wobbling, then holding fast as it delivers some strong blows against the Cybertronians that increasingly push Jhiaxus over the edge. All whilst the Swarm eats its way through the Universe, before stumbling across some Transformers that lead it to Earth as the final battle kicks off.
Yaniger is gone by this point, but Geoff Senior steps in as the alternating artist, providing some amazing career best work, including the nuclear destruction of San Francisco by Jhiaxus as he finally snaps.
The final battle then becomes a four-way, as Cybertronians, our Transformers, Starscream (merged with both the Warworld and the Matrix to become a super monster that is irrelevant but fun, and the idea of him being made to do nice things by something he’s been possessed by would be recycled into ReGeneration One) and the Swarm all duke it out over and on Earth, with the Swarm comfortably winning against nearly all takers, only a McGuffin of a gas that makes metal super dense and hard to eat protecting Prime and Megatron’s boys (shades of The Return of Optimus Prime).
Amidst all this we do get the one weak link, as Hasbro have woken up and forced Furman to put some new toy promotion is as there’s suddenly a subplot about the Rotor Force defecting to the Autobots that is half arsed and means characters like poor old Nightbeat don’t get the space for a decent death (though the big lots of death part of the final issue being handled by Manny Galan doesn’t help).
Still, the final ever Marvel issue A Rage in Heaven! is otherwise almost a perfect masterpiece. Outside the big battle the real heart is Optimus, having reclaimed the Matrix, letting the Swarm eat him and, as with Unicron, filling it with niceness. Unlike with Unicron this changes the Swarm, giving it the concept of kindness and love it was lacking and letting it float off as a big gold cloud in a very Star Trek: The Motion Picture way, though unlike poor old Decker it puts Optimus back down (this time in his Combat Hero toy form) before leaving.
G2 Megatron is basically the Beast Wars version two years early, deeply sarcastic and dangerous, but you can’t help but route for him, and the relationship between him and Prime becomes the bedrock of the series as, after Megatron gets a severe ass kicking from Jhiaxus, the two sides unite against their new enemy (and spot the subtext of Generation One taking on Generation Two and winning).
The back-end of the run then becomes one big story, showing the alliance wobbling, then holding fast as it delivers some strong blows against the Cybertronians that increasingly push Jhiaxus over the edge. All whilst the Swarm eats its way through the Universe, before stumbling across some Transformers that lead it to Earth as the final battle kicks off.
Yaniger is gone by this point, but Geoff Senior steps in as the alternating artist, providing some amazing career best work, including the nuclear destruction of San Francisco by Jhiaxus as he finally snaps.
The final battle then becomes a four-way, as Cybertronians, our Transformers, Starscream (merged with both the Warworld and the Matrix to become a super monster that is irrelevant but fun, and the idea of him being made to do nice things by something he’s been possessed by would be recycled into ReGeneration One) and the Swarm all duke it out over and on Earth, with the Swarm comfortably winning against nearly all takers, only a McGuffin of a gas that makes metal super dense and hard to eat protecting Prime and Megatron’s boys (shades of The Return of Optimus Prime).
Amidst all this we do get the one weak link, as Hasbro have woken up and forced Furman to put some new toy promotion is as there’s suddenly a subplot about the Rotor Force defecting to the Autobots that is half arsed and means characters like poor old Nightbeat don’t get the space for a decent death (though the big lots of death part of the final issue being handled by Manny Galan doesn’t help).
Still, the final ever Marvel issue A Rage in Heaven! is otherwise almost a perfect masterpiece. Outside the big battle the real heart is Optimus, having reclaimed the Matrix, letting the Swarm eat him and, as with Unicron, filling it with niceness. Unlike with Unicron this changes the Swarm, giving it the concept of kindness and love it was lacking and letting it float off as a big gold cloud in a very Star Trek: The Motion Picture way, though unlike poor old Decker it puts Optimus back down (this time in his Combat Hero toy form) before leaving.
Again, the eugenics here is uncomfortable, saying the Swarm was lacking fundamental Cybertronian morality because of how it was born. But this is ultimately an optimistic ending that refutes the darkness of 90’s comics. Make love, not war.
Which makes the coda with the Liege Maximo, a big fat green thing that is a rare design failure from Geoff Senior, saying he created the Decepticons and they’re just pure evil, somewhat annoying when the shot of everyone around a campfire listening to Optimus give a reunification speech would have been the best note on which to end.
Generation 2 is not perfect, and it certainly has rough edges right up till the end. But it is also full of good, ground-breaking stuff that challenges and changes not just the franchise, but the tropes of the time. It still feels fresh in a way that, frankly, even Furman’ best work since hasn’t and would have been the perfect exit point for him if not for the fact that different Transformers publishers have had very little imagination when it comes to hiring writers.
For G2 as a franchise though, its real legacy was its failure. It showed Hasbro that lazy recycling wasn’t enough and the next iteration of the franchise would have to be given a freer hand to shake things up and bring both the toys and the fiction into a new decade more successfully.
However, I won’t be talking about Beast Wars in depth till next year when I’ll be covering its unexpected arrival in British newsagents. Next week skips a few versions of the franchise as we arrive at the first UK comic to have no connection to the Marvel continuity whatsoever.
Let me tell you about the Transformers...
ISSUE 5
1994-2003
COMMENT
KO-FI
Which makes the coda with the Liege Maximo, a big fat green thing that is a rare design failure from Geoff Senior, saying he created the Decepticons and they’re just pure evil, somewhat annoying when the shot of everyone around a campfire listening to Optimus give a reunification speech would have been the best note on which to end.
Generation 2 is not perfect, and it certainly has rough edges right up till the end. But it is also full of good, ground-breaking stuff that challenges and changes not just the franchise, but the tropes of the time. It still feels fresh in a way that, frankly, even Furman’ best work since hasn’t and would have been the perfect exit point for him if not for the fact that different Transformers publishers have had very little imagination when it comes to hiring writers.
For G2 as a franchise though, its real legacy was its failure. It showed Hasbro that lazy recycling wasn’t enough and the next iteration of the franchise would have to be given a freer hand to shake things up and bring both the toys and the fiction into a new decade more successfully.
However, I won’t be talking about Beast Wars in depth till next year when I’ll be covering its unexpected arrival in British newsagents. Next week skips a few versions of the franchise as we arrive at the first UK comic to have no connection to the Marvel continuity whatsoever.
Let me tell you about the Transformers...
ISSUE 5
1994-2003
COMMENT
KO-FI
