I'm So Reborn.
Issue 7: Starscream’s Militia/Movie Prequel Part 7/Beast Wars: The Gathering Part 7. 3rd January 2008.
You used to say, “Never say die” Prime, but I’ll admit right now it seems a wholly inappropriate sentiment!
A new year means a new direction for the book as we finally hit stories set after the film. Or at least in this case, almost after the film as it occurs between the final two scenes, after the battle, but before the Decepticon bodies are dumped in the ocean.
Indeed, this is the first “Sequel” to the film, IDW’s OFFICIAL MOVIE SEQUEL (until the actual movie sequel comes out) Reign of Starscream wouldn’t start till March.
And yes, I will talk about that at some point, but I’m delaying it as long as possible as I know it has its fans and... I am not one of them.
Furman’s plan at this point is simple. To try and do stories that won’t be contradicted by either the film or IDW sequels (a concern as 7 and 8 would be included in the American reprints and there was presumably still a chance that the backup strip here would carry on with the movieverse titles). A noble idea, but one that won’t really work as both the stories would wind up not fitting in with Revenge of the Fallen. Or in the case of this one, even the first film. Which may be why it’s a short lived experiment.
You used to say, “Never say die” Prime, but I’ll admit right now it seems a wholly inappropriate sentiment!
A new year means a new direction for the book as we finally hit stories set after the film. Or at least in this case, almost after the film as it occurs between the final two scenes, after the battle, but before the Decepticon bodies are dumped in the ocean.
Indeed, this is the first “Sequel” to the film, IDW’s OFFICIAL MOVIE SEQUEL (until the actual movie sequel comes out) Reign of Starscream wouldn’t start till March.
And yes, I will talk about that at some point, but I’m delaying it as long as possible as I know it has its fans and... I am not one of them.
Furman’s plan at this point is simple. To try and do stories that won’t be contradicted by either the film or IDW sequels (a concern as 7 and 8 would be included in the American reprints and there was presumably still a chance that the backup strip here would carry on with the movieverse titles). A noble idea, but one that won’t really work as both the stories would wind up not fitting in with Revenge of the Fallen. Or in the case of this one, even the first film. Which may be why it’s a short lived experiment.
Jesus woman, get to a doctor.
The strip itself—called Starscream’s Militia but referred to on Furman’s blog at the time as Starscream’s Brigade, suggesting a late name change from a full on G1 reference—is more interesting for its structure than its plot. Set in the immediate aftermath of the battle in Mission City...err...I mean Los Angeles (that is sloppy considering the film has been out for months at this point, at the very least the editor should have caught it), it flips back and forth between two time frames, one starting at 6.52PM and the other at 6.27.
As a narrative trick, it doesn’t add a huge amount (not to the same extent that James Roberts would when he played the same before and after gimmick in More Than Meets the Eye), but equally it would have been just as easy to present the story in chronological order and it’s the first time we’ve seen Furman get playful with his plotting since the Marvel days. It feels like he’s becoming more invested in the series and putting more thought into things to keep it interesting. Which will play dividends in a couple of months.
Though more invested he might be, Furman is clearly still struggling with what direction to take the post-film strips in (and we’ve talked before about he tends to be cautious and feel his way into a new situation rather than going in guns blazing) as the plot is pretty awful and basic.
As a narrative trick, it doesn’t add a huge amount (not to the same extent that James Roberts would when he played the same before and after gimmick in More Than Meets the Eye), but equally it would have been just as easy to present the story in chronological order and it’s the first time we’ve seen Furman get playful with his plotting since the Marvel days. It feels like he’s becoming more invested in the series and putting more thought into things to keep it interesting. Which will play dividends in a couple of months.
Though more invested he might be, Furman is clearly still struggling with what direction to take the post-film strips in (and we’ve talked before about he tends to be cautious and feel his way into a new situation rather than going in guns blazing) as the plot is pretty awful and basic.
Allspark help me is a swear that won't catch on.
Making the focus on Starscream is a sensible move as he got the sequel tease at the end of the film (I don’t think any sane person would have guessed the Fallen would be the main villain of the follow up), and the varied angry robots created by the Allspark during the Mission City... L.A.... battle is a loose end that has just enough lack of consequence to feel like no one else would pick up on it, making it fair game.
So (chronologically), Starscream stumbles on the relative of Mountain Dew Dispenser Robot; Generic Non Branded Pop Dispenser and quickly works out “This flailing freak of mecha-nature” has Allspark power, which he rips out of it and—after doing similar to equally unlucky small guys—uses it to reanimate the corpses of Devastator, Barricade and Blackout as zombies.
Yes, that’s Devastator despite previous issues making a thing of it being Brawl in the film. And yes, that’s Barricade, who didn’t actually die in the film. The attempts not to contradict anything are not going well so far.
The zombies then attack the down on power after the big battle Autobots and briefly provide a challenge before Ratchet works out to just shoot them in the Allspark energy. Which seems like the end, but Starscream still has some Allspark energy left...
Which will never be heard from again.
Probably the most interesting thing is that both Starscream and Prime are keen to emphasise that the robots animated by the Allspark are not true, living sentient Transformers. Which makes the attitude towards their kin in Revenge of the Fallen (where the Witwicky kitchen appliances are effectively new-born babies who get quickly murdered for being a bit confused) seem less brutal.
So (chronologically), Starscream stumbles on the relative of Mountain Dew Dispenser Robot; Generic Non Branded Pop Dispenser and quickly works out “This flailing freak of mecha-nature” has Allspark power, which he rips out of it and—after doing similar to equally unlucky small guys—uses it to reanimate the corpses of Devastator, Barricade and Blackout as zombies.
Yes, that’s Devastator despite previous issues making a thing of it being Brawl in the film. And yes, that’s Barricade, who didn’t actually die in the film. The attempts not to contradict anything are not going well so far.
The zombies then attack the down on power after the big battle Autobots and briefly provide a challenge before Ratchet works out to just shoot them in the Allspark energy. Which seems like the end, but Starscream still has some Allspark energy left...
Which will never be heard from again.
Probably the most interesting thing is that both Starscream and Prime are keen to emphasise that the robots animated by the Allspark are not true, living sentient Transformers. Which makes the attitude towards their kin in Revenge of the Fallen (where the Witwicky kitchen appliances are effectively new-born babies who get quickly murdered for being a bit confused) seem less brutal.
Prime auditionting for the Decap Attack remake.
Otherwise though, this is just a straightforward action issue, with perfunctory dialogue (recycling lines from the 1986 film is always the sign of a lazy script). Therefore it lives or dies on the art. Which, for the first time is by someone who isn’t an established Transformers artist. Indeed, Boo (as they chose to be credited) gets their first pro-gig here of any sort as far as I can tell.
And the result is not very good. The robots and action look awkward, with one especially poor lowlight being a panel where Prime is presumably supposed to be decapitating Barricade with the head flying off into the distance, instead looking like Prime is balancing the head on his shoulder.
I don’t know, maybe that’s what he does with all the faces he collects.
The humans, shown fleeing in panic throughout, are especially bad though. They look malformed and, in the case of one busty woman passer by, lopsided. It’s actually amazing this artist who can’t draw people now spends a lot of time drawing art of scantily dressed women with massive bums and big boobs.
Throw in some weak and flat colouring from Robin Smith (that adds G1 red highlights to Starscream) and it’s an ugly issue that has to go down in the fail category despite some hints things are about to kick up a gear.
And the result is not very good. The robots and action look awkward, with one especially poor lowlight being a panel where Prime is presumably supposed to be decapitating Barricade with the head flying off into the distance, instead looking like Prime is balancing the head on his shoulder.
I don’t know, maybe that’s what he does with all the faces he collects.
The humans, shown fleeing in panic throughout, are especially bad though. They look malformed and, in the case of one busty woman passer by, lopsided. It’s actually amazing this artist who can’t draw people now spends a lot of time drawing art of scantily dressed women with massive bums and big boobs.
Throw in some weak and flat colouring from Robin Smith (that adds G1 red highlights to Starscream) and it’s an ugly issue that has to go down in the fail category despite some hints things are about to kick up a gear.
Exciting talking about a dam and a sleeping robot page.
The film prequel starts its original third part by continuing to fill in the blanks of the backstory that don’t really need to be filled in at all. So we see Captain Witwicky committed and mad and Hoover Dam being prepared to hold both Megatron and the Allspark.
The highlight is probably a double page spread (and I wish I’d known at the point I was scanning the issue I would pull off scanning and patching together the poster or else I’d have included it here) of Witwicky having a vision of the final battle from the film, “Their war, our world”. Which is one area you can tell Furman did genuinely contribute to the writing as apocalyptic visions of the future are very much his thing.
Most surprising is the issue opens in 1924, so Witwicky effectively lived another quarter century. The in his 70’s at the time actor W. Morgan Sheppard managed just over eleven years despite advances in life expectancy and not being in a Victorian mental asylum.
The highlight is probably a double page spread (and I wish I’d known at the point I was scanning the issue I would pull off scanning and patching together the poster or else I’d have included it here) of Witwicky having a vision of the final battle from the film, “Their war, our world”. Which is one area you can tell Furman did genuinely contribute to the writing as apocalyptic visions of the future are very much his thing.
Most surprising is the issue opens in 1924, so Witwicky effectively lived another quarter century. The in his 70’s at the time actor W. Morgan Sheppard managed just over eleven years despite advances in life expectancy and not being in a Victorian mental asylum.
The Beast Wars guys!
Beast Wars finally give more than a cameo to the characters from the popular TV series Beast Wars as we open with two whole pages of Optimus Primal and company standing outside the Ark and pondering if some weird shit is going down.
Razorbeast and his crew sneak past, and the elephant in the room is partially addressed as Snarl asks why they don’t just use the Axalon’s (or rather its remains set up in the volcano) equipment rather than the more out of date stuff on the Ark.
Which brings us to the issue that it will turn out later that our characters can go in out of “Real time” when needed, so why don’t they de-phase and team up with Optimus Primal? Especially as they have the same goal of getting a message to Cybertron and getting help.
Razorbeast’s explanation is that they can’t risk messing with history. But the Axalon crew are not historical figures, but contemporaries of his. Working with them is not a temporal issue, but messing about with the Ark (the preservation of which is the driving plot point of the third season of the cartoon) is. It’s a tenuous hand-wave at best.
Amusingly the original Dreamwave pitch for this series would have had it set after season 3 of the cartoon, with the TV cast interacting properly with all the noobs. It’s a pity that idea was dropped when the series lost two issues as we could have had more than a cough and a spit from the most popular beasties.
There’s also a four page scene of some Predacons being attacked and chased off by the Mutants that serves no purpose (as they’re very clear on saying they want nothing to do with the comic they’re in and will be staying living quietly off-page for the rest of it) except to tick off the boxes on those toys.
Razorbeast and his crew sneak past, and the elephant in the room is partially addressed as Snarl asks why they don’t just use the Axalon’s (or rather its remains set up in the volcano) equipment rather than the more out of date stuff on the Ark.
Which brings us to the issue that it will turn out later that our characters can go in out of “Real time” when needed, so why don’t they de-phase and team up with Optimus Primal? Especially as they have the same goal of getting a message to Cybertron and getting help.
Razorbeast’s explanation is that they can’t risk messing with history. But the Axalon crew are not historical figures, but contemporaries of his. Working with them is not a temporal issue, but messing about with the Ark (the preservation of which is the driving plot point of the third season of the cartoon) is. It’s a tenuous hand-wave at best.
Amusingly the original Dreamwave pitch for this series would have had it set after season 3 of the cartoon, with the TV cast interacting properly with all the noobs. It’s a pity that idea was dropped when the series lost two issues as we could have had more than a cough and a spit from the most popular beasties.
There’s also a four page scene of some Predacons being attacked and chased off by the Mutants that serves no purpose (as they’re very clear on saying they want nothing to do with the comic they’re in and will be staying living quietly off-page for the rest of it) except to tick off the boxes on those toys.
Seamlessly joined.
The cover (with free gift of a pad and pencil) is the last photo one for the moment, though there’s evidence I’ll discuss that it was originally going to have art that was replaced late in the day.
The contents page is called “Screamad Elica”, which frankly confused me and left me staring for about ten minutes as I tried to work out the pun. Turns out it’s the title of the third Primal Scream album, but how it relates in any way to the contents beyond it having one word that makes up Starscream’s name in it is incredibly hard to guess.
Character Profile looks at Frenzy this month, and makes a thing about what a talented infiltrator he is. Which is a shame when in the film the gag is he’s terrible and useless but the humans around him are even dumber.
The big thing this month though is the poster. Normally this is the cover and I suspect it may have been intended as such before someone decided a more major character needed to be featured. Which is understandable, but feels criminal as it turns out to be a forgotten Geoff Senior piece of the three zombie Decepticons that gives you a far better idea of what Furman was imagining when he was writing and is frankly gorgeous. What a shame this would be the last Senior Transformers art till ReGeneration One. It’s so nice, I’m disproportionally proud of having been able to scan the two pages and put them together almost seamlessly (though I've had to trim it to fit in Weebly's size limits. As full a version as I could get on my slightly too small scanner HERE). Look at me, getting all fancy with my image editing skills.
How to Draw... Megatron actually manages to be more useless than the previous Optimus one as the reference photograph and the guide drawing each use a different head design for the character.
Top Gear focuses on the Star Wars Transformers toys (though there’s room for Real Gear star High Score 100 as well), and the competition questions are getting ludicrous now, I have no idea who sat behind Luke in the Snowspeeder in The Empire Strikes Back and I bet most kids wouldn’t either.
The contents page is called “Screamad Elica”, which frankly confused me and left me staring for about ten minutes as I tried to work out the pun. Turns out it’s the title of the third Primal Scream album, but how it relates in any way to the contents beyond it having one word that makes up Starscream’s name in it is incredibly hard to guess.
Character Profile looks at Frenzy this month, and makes a thing about what a talented infiltrator he is. Which is a shame when in the film the gag is he’s terrible and useless but the humans around him are even dumber.
The big thing this month though is the poster. Normally this is the cover and I suspect it may have been intended as such before someone decided a more major character needed to be featured. Which is understandable, but feels criminal as it turns out to be a forgotten Geoff Senior piece of the three zombie Decepticons that gives you a far better idea of what Furman was imagining when he was writing and is frankly gorgeous. What a shame this would be the last Senior Transformers art till ReGeneration One. It’s so nice, I’m disproportionally proud of having been able to scan the two pages and put them together almost seamlessly (though I've had to trim it to fit in Weebly's size limits. As full a version as I could get on my slightly too small scanner HERE). Look at me, getting all fancy with my image editing skills.
How to Draw... Megatron actually manages to be more useless than the previous Optimus one as the reference photograph and the guide drawing each use a different head design for the character.
Top Gear focuses on the Star Wars Transformers toys (though there’s room for Real Gear star High Score 100 as well), and the competition questions are getting ludicrous now, I have no idea who sat behind Luke in the Snowspeeder in The Empire Strikes Back and I bet most kids wouldn’t either.
Scoop!
More excitingly, the letters page is now Star Screams, hosted by the cover... well, star. This will be the most successful attempt to ape the Marvel formula, as he’ll be rude to readers, but still fun rather than crossing a line as Armada did. To celebrate, 16 year old Shaun Hailey from Hitchin sends in a drawing of Megatron throttling Scoop copied from the 1989 Annual.
Andrea Tang writes in to suggest the best way to avoid any contradictions with future stories is to create an alternate timeline for the comic to happen in. Which is so exactly what is going to happen I would assume this was a plant, if not for the fact that Starscream completely ignores that part of the letter (there’s no “Funny you should mention that...”) and instead makes fun of Furman’s lack of hair.
Maybe the idea came from this letter?!
The website of the month is devoted to the Lil’Formers website, before we knew what a complete anal wart on fandom Matt Moylan would turn out to be (and indeed, he’s one of the most vocal haters of the films, making the support here even more ironic). But if you assume this part is still written by Starscream it makes sense. After all, one is a rancid self-centred egotist who hates pure and nice things, and the other is a Decepticon from the 2007 film.
Do you see what I did there? Totally subverted your expectations.
Loser of the month though goes to Aaron Wood, who boasts that he has a collection of the entire Marvel comic. Come on Aaron, what sort of sad lonely person would think that was something to brag about?
Next week, having cycled through most of the living characters, it’s time for another Ironhide focused issue!
2008 ANNUAL
2008
COMMENT
KO-FI
Andrea Tang writes in to suggest the best way to avoid any contradictions with future stories is to create an alternate timeline for the comic to happen in. Which is so exactly what is going to happen I would assume this was a plant, if not for the fact that Starscream completely ignores that part of the letter (there’s no “Funny you should mention that...”) and instead makes fun of Furman’s lack of hair.
Maybe the idea came from this letter?!
The website of the month is devoted to the Lil’Formers website, before we knew what a complete anal wart on fandom Matt Moylan would turn out to be (and indeed, he’s one of the most vocal haters of the films, making the support here even more ironic). But if you assume this part is still written by Starscream it makes sense. After all, one is a rancid self-centred egotist who hates pure and nice things, and the other is a Decepticon from the 2007 film.
Do you see what I did there? Totally subverted your expectations.
Loser of the month though goes to Aaron Wood, who boasts that he has a collection of the entire Marvel comic. Come on Aaron, what sort of sad lonely person would think that was something to brag about?
Next week, having cycled through most of the living characters, it’s time for another Ironhide focused issue!
2008 ANNUAL
2008
COMMENT
KO-FI
