On to Episode 3 and The Web, the first of a seemingly coincidental Cheetor Is A Dumbass two-parter! Now that we’re past the pilot we get a good look at the extended cast, and this episode is our first good look at the super-creepy Predacon Tarantulas. Will Cheetor ever learn his lesson — or at the very least learn how to pronounce his own name?
We’re back! Join us as we watch the second part of the two-part series pilot, creatively titled “Beast Wars Part 2”. Who will win as Dinobot challenges Optimus Primal? How will they fill up the rest of the episode? Will Trixter spoil stuff that doesn’t happen for like 33 more episodes? Will Cheetor ever figure out how to pronounce his own name?
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We here at Iacon Underground do like things other than just More Than Meets The Eye. Every Wednesday, four of us – Trixter (Jen), awa64 (Alex), strangefour (David), and Rob – are getting together for a new podcast that discusses every episode of the groundbreaking Beast Wars TV series!
In Episode 00 we discus where Transformers as a franchise was in the waning days of Generation 2 (spoilers: in the gutter) and where we all were when everything changed from Trukk to Munky. In Episode 01 we take a look at the first part of the pilot episode on the anniversary of its first syndicated airing. How well has the show aged? How did the fandom react to it? What fun production trivia does Trix remember from long-ago BotCons? Just how awesome can Rob’s voice be? Listen on to find out, and drop back by every Wednesday as we discuss a new episode!
Tarn discovers that Megatron has renounced the Decepticon cause! But will Decepticon rebel and DJD target Deathsaurus be willing to work with him to build a brave new future? How many Japanese G1 characters can you spot aboard his Warworld? And just how sad am I that Hellbat was wasted on Drift: Empire of Stone? (Spoilers: Very.)
It’s All Decepticon Justice Division All The Time in More Than Meets the Eye #39: The Permanent Revolution!
The Elegant Chaos arc reaches its end here. Five million years in the past Brainstorm stands before a half-finished Megatron, finger on the trigger, as Rodimus and the others rush to save reality as they know it by saving one of the universe’s greatest tyrants. In the present Megatron, Ultra Magnus, and Perceptor can only stand by and watch as the fate of their entire timeline plays out in the past.
Just what is Brainstorm thinking? Can Rodimus’s team stop him? And is Megatron even worth saving?
It’s never easy to assess the middle chapter of a story. The potential of a setup is at least somewhat apparent, and a grand conclusion can sweep the audience away, but middle chapters can falter in so many ways that aren’t even apparent until the story reaches that grand conclusion. In the heat of the moment, sometimes you just have to settle for enjoying what is there, especially the character beats, until you can return with the benefit of foresight and do it all over again.
It’s been mentioned elsewhere that sometimes not a whole lot happens in MTMTE. Don’t get me wrong, stuff happens, lots of it, feels and pain and sadness and funny stuff, but the plot, the overarching plot arch that Roberts has all penciled out somewhere is moving at a rather relaxed pace and this felt especially obvious with this one issue, which truly felt like a first part of a longer arch (which it is, I know).
If it is one thing I absolutely adore with More than Meets the Eye and James Robert’s writing, it is his world building. And it’s not only the normal, standard world building; he also adds things to the society and background of Cybertron that I had never thought possible. I am not used to be able to compare Transformers to my own political views and beliefs, but here we are, at the end of 2014 and I am doing just that with most every issue that arrive, this one being no exception. (Spoilers go below)
Nov 26
More than Meets the Eye #35: Social Commentary
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