Oct 24

BotCon 2015 Announced, Will Be Vaguely in the Vicinity of Chicago

BotCon2015webcenterFun Publications has officially announced the dates and location of BotCon 2015: It’ll be held June 18th-21st in Chicago…sort of.

The actual location of the convention will be the Pheasant Run Resort, which describes itself on its own web site as “less than one hour from Chicago”. The “Beautiful 250 acre setting in historic St Charles Illinois” features “18 holes of championship golf including a resort course, driving range, golf academy and pro shop” but no mention of the sort of amenities the 20-to-30-something Transformers convention-goer actually wants, such as “cheap food” or “maybe a Target”.

Is this a swing at TFCon, who is holding their first US convention this weekend near Chicago at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare? Or does Brian Savage just want to get in a few rounds of golf?

Oct 20

Why G1 Arcee Still Matters

Not Your Pin-Up Girl

Not Your Pin-Up Girl

In the wake of the Fan-Built Bot poll that told Hasbro loud and clear that we want more female Transformers, the Generations toyline is getting a huge shot of robo-estrogen as new character Windblade is joined by her bestie Chromia and, to the surprise of many, a slavishly G1-accurate Arcee.

When the new Arcee toy was revealed at BotCon 2014, a lot of people were surprised that Hasbro was making that version of the character. Some said they would have preferred the newer, more relevant IDW design. The original Arcee has spent decades attached to problematic art and a dismissive view of her as a token character. But for us older women in the fandom who grew up with G1, she’s the toy we’ve wanted since we were kids.

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Sep 17

More than Meets the Eye #33 Recap – Morality is shades of grey.

TF_MTMTE_33_cvrI love it when literature makes me think. Whether it’s books, articles, essays, comics or poetry, it is like hitting the gym, only with my brain, challenging me to think and ponder things in new ways. One of the reasons why I like to rank MTMTE extremely high on my list of favorite comics of all time is for this very reason, that besides engaging my emotions, there is always something in every issue which makes me think. This ongoing story line with Autobot Megatron has been particularly stimulating in how it makes me think about morality and good versus bad. And this issue was no exception. Spoilers below!

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Aug 27

More Than Meets The Eye #32 Recap – Here there be monsters

TF_MTMTE_32_cvrAI have a long standing love/hate relationship with horror and splatter films, particularly the ones from the 80s. Though they near always result in bad sleep and nightmares, I still watch them, coming back for that surge of adrenaline and the feeling like your heart is about to leap from your chest (and there is something to be said for watching them with someone who doesn’t mind if you cling to them in your fright).

With all the hints about this upcoming issue that trickled down to me via friends and social media I knew I was in for something more than just “a hit to the feels”. With my reptile brain fully engaged, heart beating in my chest I made the dubious decision to sit down and read this issue late at night. And yea beware, for below there be monsters (and spoilers).

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Jul 24

IDW Presents the Humble Transformers Bundle!

Humble Transformers BundleIDW has teamed up with the folks at Humble Bundle – which sells bundles of games, books, and other digital content at a heavy discount to support various charities – to offer the Humble Transformers Bundle! You can pay whatever you want to pick up the first four volumes of the Transformers Classics collection. If you choose to pay more than the current average (at $10.16 as of this posting) you also get All Hail Megatron 1-4, Autocracy, and Spotlight Vol. 1 with a promise of other books to be added soon, and if you pay $15 or more you get all of that plus More Than Meets The Eye and Robots in Disguise Vols. 1 & 2! This is DRM-free, multi-platform, and can be sent as a gift, so it you’ve purchased all these already you can still help out by buying them for that friend who NEEDS to read more Transformers comics!

 

The bundle will only be available for two weeks, so head over there and pick up some great comics for charity!

Jul 10

More than Meets the Eye #31 Recap – The bottle episode

TF_MTMTE_31_cvrAThe term “bottle episode” refers to an episode limited in the number of characters and its setting, originating with the 1960s Star Trek where the term referred to episodes only shot on the starship Enterprise. More than Meets the Eye shares one thing with that old classic sci-fi series, in that it also takes place in outer space and since Roberts likes to use other TV series terminology, like splitting his issues up in “seasons” and “multiple episode story arcs” it wasn’t surprising when he announced that he was making a “bottle episode”, to be a bit of calm before a greater storm.

 Spoilers ahoy!

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Jun 25

More than Meets the Eye #30 Recap – How do you solve a problem like Megatron?

TF_MTMTE_30_cvrSUBThere’s a saying…In a lot of different languages that something that’s good is well worth waiting for. With this latest issue of More Than Meets the Eye; I was starting to doubt that. With over a month to wait for the resolution to the cliffhanger and story hooks from last issue, I was going a little loopy. Well, the wait is finally over and here is the promised end to the first mini arc, where we would finally find out how Megatron ended up where he is right now and let me tell you, it’s made me like the character in a way I did not think possible.

Spoilers ahoy!

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Jun 05

WTFMarvel? – Simon Furman & Jose Delbo’s Brute Force Returns!

Deadpool-Bi-Annual-001-674x1024-2f5c5Comic Book Resources just dropped the news that an upcoming Deadpool special will feature the little-know Marvel characters Brute Force! Why am I posting this on a Transformers site? Because Brute Force, a book that got a whopping four issues out of its initial 4-issue limited series, a toy comic with no actual toy to tie in to, was created (at least in part) by Bob Budiansky, written by Simon Furman, and drawn by Jose Delbo.

In the last days of the 80s, with Transformers and G.I. Joe winding down, Marvel decided they wanted to put some of that talent they’d used to create characters and storylines for Hasbro into making their own “toyetic” IP that they could then license to a toy company. Brute Force was the result.

Back in 2012 I spoke to Furman about the series over on the comic retrospective blog 80 Page Giant (Where I also do a podcast!), and honestly that alone may be the most extensive information on the series you’ll ever find. Go take a look at that, then click over to the CBR article on the Deadpool special and see what plans they have now for the Marvel-owned toyline that never was!

Jun 04

WTFHasbro? – Knights of Unicron Set Is Most 80s Thing Ever

What’s the most 80s thing you can imagine? If you said Transformers dressed up as a glam metal band, Hasbro is right there with you. According to ETOnline (for some reason), Hasbro’s big Transformers San Diego Comic-Con set is called Knights of Cybertron, and it features Optimus Prime, Megatron, Jazz, and Soundwave (all based on the FoC Deluxes) with wild hair, zebra print scarfs, and bright-colored fringe. The set also pulls out the Laserbeak and Ratbat guitar and keytar molds from Transformers Animated and includes toy-scaled microphones.

Hey, at least it’s not based on a Robot Chicken sketch.

Rock on over to their site for pictures of the full set in all their 80s glory.

Jun 03

WTFTakaraTomy? – A Transformers/Evangelion Crossover For Some Reason

TFEvaWHYYYYYYYYTakaraTomy has strange ideas for Transformers. While Hasbro is putting together award-winning TV shows and working with Hollywood studios, TakaraTomy is…making toy sneakers and caps that turn into Optimus Prime.

And sometimes they do strange, inexplicable crossovers, like toys that change from iconic Transformers vehicle modes into Disney characters. And then there’s this: Crossing Transformers with the influential, deeply psychological 90s anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. Like a fanfic on a GeoCities site circa 1999, the Autobots are teaming up with NERV to take down a Starscream-possessed Angel Sachiel. Why? Because TakaraTomy is doing a limited-release Masterpiece Optimus Prime in Unit 01 purple and green, which is already bad enough without having to fanfic things up. At least it’s limited to 1000 pieces.

You can check out the official page for the crossover here, though I think even Google Translate will be hard-pressed to make any of it actually make any sense. I’ll be off in a corner being appalled on behalf of Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno.