He might as well have said it...

Original image and article found here, on the excellent Newsbusters site. Well worth a daily visit!

new ongoing Transformers comic

This is what I'm looking forward to next month... and it's drawn by Don Figeroa, one of my favorite artists. He has a very detailed style, but at the same time it's very clean and readable and easy to follow. I'm not familiar with the writer of the new series, but I'm willing to give him a chance and see how he does.

All Falling Down...

I've become a big fan of Victor Davis Hanson's commentary over the last few months. Mr. Hanson, to quote his homepage, is "the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a professor of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services. He is also the Wayne & Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History, Hillsdale College, where he teaches each fall semester courses in military history and classical culture."

Mr. Davis' latest column can be found at Pajamas Media, and it is an excellent summation of the problems our nation is facing thanks to the overspending by both the Bush administration and Congress, and now the Obama administration and Congress.

A few quotes that jumped out at me follow, but the entire column is well worth reading.

When Obama talks of a trillion here for health care, a trillion there for cap-and-trade, it has a chilling effect. Does he include the cost of interest? Where will the money came from? Who will pay the interest? Has he ever experienced the wages of such borrowing in his own life? Did he cut back and save for his college or law school tuition, with part-time jobs? Did he ever run a business and see how hard it was to be $200 ahead at day’s end?

What destroys individuals, ruins families, and fells nations is debt—or rather the inability to service debt, and the cultural ramifications that follow. When farming, I used to see the futility in haggling over diesel prices, trying to buy fertilizer in bulk, or using used vineyard wire—when each day we were paying hundreds in dollars in interest on a “cut-rate” 14% crop loan.

The difference between the 5th century BC and late 4th century BC at Athens is debt–and not caused just by military expenditures or war; the claims on Athenian entitlements grew by the 350s, even as forced liturgies on the productive classes increased, even as the treasury emptied. At Rome by the mid-3rd century AD the state was essentially bribing its own citizens to behave by expanding the bread and circuses dole, while tax avoidance became an art form, while the Roman state tried everything from price controls to inflating the coinage to meet services and pay public debts.

Integral to public debt are two eternal truths: a public demands of the state ever more subsidies, and those who pay for them shrink in number as they seek to avoid the increased burden.

Why the pessimism? I think there are a few truths that transcend politics and remain eternal. In life as a general rule, debt has to be paid back, and with greater pain and anger than it was to borrow it. Bullies do not respect magnanimity, but tragically interpret it as weakness to be exploited rather than to be admired.

My Doctor Who "Top 200" episode rankings

Doctor Who magazine ran the top 200 episodes this month, culled from fan surveys. Needless to say, my results are somewhat different, though until I sat down and organized the stories from favorite to least favorite, I'm not sure I could have told you just exactly what order everything was in.

Top 200 Doctor Who

1. Warrior’s Gate
2. Inferno
3. The Deadly Assassin
4. Horror of Fang Rock
5. The Caves of Androzani
6. The Ark in Space
7. The Power of the Daleks
8. Genesis of the Daleks
9. The Seeds of Doom
10. The Talons of Weng-Chiang

11. The Web of Fear
12. Terror of the Zygons
13. Pyramids of Mars
14. Planet of Evil
15. Fury From the Deep
16. The Aztecs
17. Marco Polo
18. The Crusades
19. The Massacre
20. The Daleks

21. An Unearthly Child
22. The Reign of Terror
23. The Dalek Master Plan
24. The Robots of Death
25. The Sea Devils
26. The Evil of the Daleks
27. The Time Warrior
28. Full Circle
29. City of Death
30. The Mind Robber

31. Tomb of the Cybermen
32. Earthshock
33. Carnival of Monsters
34. The Green Death
35. Invasion of the Dinosaurs
36. The Ambassadors of Death
37. The Silurians
38. The Dalek Invasion of Earth
39. The Time Meddler
40. The Three Doctors

41. The Invasion
42. The War Games
43. Day of the Daleks
44. The Face of Evil
45. The Five Doctors
46. The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances
47. State of Decay
48. Logopolis
49. The Leisure Hive
50. The Ribos Operation

51. The Visitation
52. The Sunmakers
53. The Androids of Tara
54. Death to the Daleks
55. Enlightenment
56. The Horns of Nimon
57. The Mind of Evil
58. Terror of the Autons
59. The Hand of Fear
60. The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit

61. Robot
62. Spearhead from Space
63. Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
64. Dalek
65. Doctor Who (the TV movie)
66. The Brain of Morbius
67. The Masque of Mandragora
68. The Sontaran Experiment
69. The Ice Warriors
70. Blink

71. The Girl in the Fireplace
72. Father’s Day
73. Mark of the Rani
74. Vengeance on Varos
75. The Trial of a Time Lord
76. The Two Doctors
77. Mawdryn Undead
78. Attack of the Cybermen
79. The Highlanders
80. The Gunfighters

81. Warriors of the Deep
82. Bad Wolf / Journey’s End
83. The End of the World
84. Frontios
85. Castrovalva
86. The Keeper of Traken
87. The Armageddon Factor
88. The Pirate Planet
89. The Stones of Blood
90. The Smugglers

91. The Tenth Planet
92. The Curse of Peladon
93. The Claws of Axos
94. The Invasion of Time
95. The Faceless Ones
96. The Romans
97. The War Machines
98. The Next Doctor
99. Planet of the Daleks
100. The Macra Terror

101. Planet of Giants
102. Survival
103. The Curse of Fenric
104. Planet of the Dead
105. Planet of Fire
106. Partners in Crime
107. The Unquiet Dead
108. The Christmas Invasion
109. Human Nature / The Family of Blood
110. Smith and Jones

111. Shada
112. The Creature from the Pit
113. Nightmare of Eden
114. The Monster of Peladon
115. The Abominable Snowmen
116. Planet of the Ood
117. Turn Left
118. The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky
119. Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks
120. The Power of Kroll

121. Destiny of the Daleks
122. Frontier in Space
123. Colony in Space
124. School Reunion
125. Ghost Light
126. The Awakening
127. The Seeds of Death
128. The Krotons
129. The Doctor’s Daughter
130. Underworld

131. Revenge of the Cybermen
132. Midnight
133. Utopia / The Sound of Drums / The Last of the Time Lords
134. The Myth Makers
135. The Rescue
136. Arc of Infinity
137. Snakedance
138. Galaxy Four
139. The Savages
140. The Moonbase

141. The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End
142. The Fires of Pompeii
143. Tooth and Claw
144. The Keys of Marinus
145. The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
146. Meglos
147. The Enemy of the World
148. The Celestial Toymaker
149. The Web Planet
150. Army of Ghosts / Doomsday

151. 42
152. Remembrance of the Daleks
153. Gridlock
154. The Long Game
155. Four to Doomsday
156. The Time Monster
157. The Ark
158. The Space Museum
159. The King’s Demons
160. The Mutants

161. Rose
162. Resurrection of the Daleks
163. The Invisible Enemy
164. The Android Invasion
165. The Sensorites
166. The Edge of Destruction
167. The Chase
168. The Underwater Menace
169. The Space Pirates
170. Image of the Fendahl

171. The Dominators
172. Fear Her
173. The Idiot’s Lantern
174. Timelash
175. Paradise Towers
176. Black Orchid
177. Terminus
178. The Wheel in Space
179. Mission to the Unknown

180. The Daemons
181. The Twin Dilemma
182. Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel
183. The Unicorn and the Wasp
184. The Shakespeare Code
185. Aliens of London / World War 3
186. Battlefield
187. Delta and the Bannermen
188. Revelation of the Daleks
189. Silver Nemesis
190. The Runaway Bride

191. The Lazarus Experiment
192. New Earth
193. Boom Town
194. Time-Flight
195. Time and the Rani
196. Kinda
197. The Happiness Patrol
198. Dragonfire
199. Voyage of the Damned
200. Love and Monsters

Review: Transformers Spotlight - Revelation

As far as I know, “Revelation” was originally slated to be the next six-part mini-series following “Devastation”, until falling sales forced IDW to rethink their plans for the Transformers comics. But loose story threads were hanging out there that had to be resolved, and so thankfully long-time readers got the answers in four Spotlight comics, namely Cyclonus, Hardhead, Doubledealer and Sideswipe, now collected together as a trade paperback. These four spotlights vary in the amount of focus actually given to the title character, which was probably inevitable given the need to focus more on plot than character, even within the character-focuses “Spotlight” format.

Cyclonus: Quite a bit is revealed about the title character. In this continuity, Cyclonus was one of the crew of the first Ark who went into the Dead Universe with Nova Prime. He is on a specific mission in the normal universe, but takes time to pay a visit to Cybertron where he laments the destruction of Cybertron’s ‘perfection’. Much of Cyclonus’ inner dialogue reveals him to be someone who believes strongly in the superiority of Cybertronian life, which ties in with Nova Prime’s goal to remake the universe in its image. His desire for revenge draws attention to himself, leading Ultra Magnus and Hound’s group to the nega-core, and the reason that Thunderwing was taken is finally revealed.

Hardhead: The events of Nightbeat’s spotlight are finally resolved, all because Nightbeat himself figures out that his memories have been tampered with. This particular story could have worked just as well without Hardhead in it, making it a case of fitting his character into the plot rather than vice versa, but the narrative still works well. I find it very interesting that micromasters are apparently the inhabitants of Gorlam Prime who have been modified to take on Cybertronian bodies, and the fact that they were originally humanoid in size explains the small size of the Micromasters. Nice idea.

Hardhead himself is a character I’ve never paid much attention to, and I imagine his use in IDW’s comics has given him more development than he’s had in any other TF continuity. I like the guy and his stoic, no-nonsense approach to life. He realizes he’s a grunt who is given dirty jobs because he’s tough and capable, and that sooner or later his number will be up.

Doubledealer: Here’s another relatively undeveloped character, and one I’m mainly familiar with due to the toy, which my brother had when we were kids. Not exactly a triple changer, but a figure with a robot mode and two alt-modes, a truck and a bird. This particular story was set up back in Hot Rod’s spotlight, and the events of that story are finally resolved. It’s interesting mainly to watch Doubledealer try to play his con-game on Hot Rod, who in a nice bit of logic not usually associated with the character, has worked it all out. This chapter fits the least comfortably into the Revelation storyline since the events with Hot Rod and Doubledealer only play only a small role. The main story is really the attack on Thunderwing and the creation of the Autobot pretenders so they can enter the dead universe.

Sideswipe: This particular spotlight really isn’t about Sideswipe, even if he does get some focus in a few key scenes. All the dead universe plotlines are tied up here, and all those plot threads set up earlier on with the first Ark, Nova Prime, etc. are explained and resolved. For once, the character of Nemesis Prime actually makes sense, given what happened to Nova. Optimus gets to prove that he is indeed the noblest of the Primes, despite his doubts back in his own spotlight.

So, having read all the “–ation” storylines, or most of them anyway, how does Simon Furman’s grand storyline look? Unfortunately it was the victim of pacing, being too slow at the beginning for most readers, and wrapping up too quickly in “Revelation” and “Maximum Dinobots”. But there’s a lot to appreciate about his ideas, including the use of characters from all across the G1 era, rather than just the 84-85 years. The threats on multiple fronts, including the war, the Dead Universe characters and the Machination all allowed for layers to the plot that kept things interesting. There’s a definite ‘galaxy-spanning’ feel to the story, with groups of Transformers scattered on many planets. It doesn’t feel like there’s just a small war on Earth and Cybertron, with nothing happening anywhere else. I think the storylines have been well worth my time to read and enjoy, and I think the payoff for all the ‘slow burn’ stories early on was worth the wait. All of this was probably more interesting to me than All Hail Megatron in the long run, though I enjoyed that story as well.

Comic reviews? What happened to politics?

Yeah, I decided that this blog had sat idle long enough. I'd rather add some variety and post comic and tv reviews than just stick to politics, which just irritate me too much to write about at the moment. Which is not to say that I won't get political again...



Yeah. That picture pretty much sums it up.

Onwards and upwards.

All Hail Megatron #14 review

Story 1 is about Sunstreaker, and his experiences during the Furman-written run of comics. I'm assuming a lot of what happened to him took place during "Devastation", which I missed entirely. I remember that he was captured at the start of Escalation and was apparently going to be turned into a Headmaster. The title of the story is "Replay" so I assume we're watching Sunstreaker relive his most recent memories, from winning a battle before being transferred to Earth, to being disassembled by the group who were developing the Headmasters, to what is either a memory or a fantasy about being restored and made whole. The last two pages show him lying in a pile of scrap at the bottom of a chasm beneath a broken bridge.

Here's where coming in late to a story does me no favors, since I don't really know what happened. I assume he died fighting, or else is in very bad shape and is expiring as we watch, and this story is the equivalent of his life flashing before his eyes. Either way, it's a grim storyline for a character I'd rather have seen more of. I get the feeling we won't be seeing Sunstreaker again any time soon.

Story 2 is about Galvatron, and shows him recruiting Cyclonus and Scourge, and creating the sweeps as his own private army. I guess these three characters are bound to be associated with each other from now on, ever since the 86 animated movie. At least Galvatron and Megatron are two different characters in this continuity, and that's a good thing.

Not as good as issue 15, but interesting all the same.

All Hail Megatron #13 review

Continuing my hopping around in the AHM storyline, I picked up issue #13 today. And once again, I found it a very enjoyable set of stories, based around two of my favorite G1 characters.

Ironhide - This particular story reminds us that Ironhide's been around a long time, and seen some ugly things. And at the beginning of the story it's finally gotten to be too much, thanks to his beatdown of Mirage. He and Optimus Prime sit down, have a drink or three and discuss their friendship from where it started to where it is now. That's a nice angle for the writer to take, because Optimus Prime doesn't have that many friends. He's in charge, and by necessity has to be somewhat distant from those under his command. Ironhide's one of the exceptions, and it's good to see that demonstrated, both via the conversation between the two and via flashback.

I've been a fan of Don Figeroa's art for several years now, and despite a poor first impression of his new style a few months ago when I first saw the art preview from the ongoing series, I find here that I like the new art quite a bit more than I thought I would. Don's art has always been detailed and expressive, and that trend continues here. The Transformers' eyes resemble the movie designs, but a lot of the new art is just altered facial styles and added layers of detail. It works for me.

Starscream - I've always had a disagreement with Starscream's portrayal as an incompetent coward. It doesn't match his original bio, and it doesn't make sense that he'd rise to be Megatron's lieutenant if he wasn't capable of doing the job. I think the "whiny coward" is a relic of the old cartoon, and one that needs to be disposed of. This issue does a good job of portraying Starscream as ambitious and egotistical, but not so much that it overwhelms his good sense. He knows that even with Megatron out of the way that his position isn't assured. Razorclaw is sure to challenge him, and there's always the possibility that Megatron will recover as well. When Shrapnel offers to finish him off, Starscream is unwilling to do that because he knows those loyal to Megatron will take revenge.

And then there's the Matrix, something Decepticons apparently can't use, and which Starscream sees no value in having, since it sits there and looks pretty and nothing else. But he's quick to figure out that the reputation may be enough to solidify his hold on the leadership based on Shrapnel's reaction. In the end, his body language suggests that he knows he's stepped in it, and that his lie is bound to come back and haunt him. I'd like to see some follow-up to this. I'd enjoy reading a plot where Starscream finally got what he always wanted and found that he hated it.

I didn't care for this artistic style as much. It got the job done and illustrated the story, but it's just not to my liking.

Overall, the second best issue of the "coda" issues.

All Hail Megatron volume 2 TPB

I take it from reading the discussion that the story didn't work for some of you. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and perhaps having six issues in one volume improves the pacing and ties things together more effectively. I can't say, having not read individual issues. I enjoyed the story very much.

The volume begins with the creation of the Insecticons and the Swarm, and I was happy to see some art by EJ Su, whose art I liked quite a bit in Infiltration and Escalation. Thundercracker is not happy about the experiments used to create the Insecticons and the way the cast-offs are treated. "Our own kind!" he keeps insisting. It's little scenes are reactions like this that make him and others more than just background filler characters. And there are other similar scenes here and there.

The Autobots are on the run, and the way in which they were defeated and sent to Cybertron is explained by Jazz to Kup in a flashback. Devastator is the ace in the hole that he was back in the early G1 days, when he was the only combiner. It's odd that Megatron doesn't just have the Autobots all killed rather than sending them to Cybertron to be eaten by the Swarm though. I'm not sure I buy that, unless he thought they might be needed later. It's an odd choice. Regardless, Prime manages to close the portal, leaving the Autobots alive but trapped. So they're on the run, leaderless and pursued by crazy mutant Insecticons.

It's a rough scene when Ironhide beats up Mirage, convinced that he's the traitor and unwilling to hear him out. Sunstreaker, the actual traitor, stands there and watches, and it's clear this later plays into his decision to confess and end it all, as his consicence gets the better of him. As an aside, it's nice to see the Universe versions of Sunstreaker and Sideswipe used in the story, and also Mirage I believe. I'm not sure if there were others, though I did see Dropshot and Tankor/Octane near the end, which was a nice touch. Sunstreaker's apparent death is the end of a downward spiral for a proud Autobot who was violated badly by humans and who couldn't get past that. His agreement with Starscream sealed the deal, since the dire situation the Autobots find themselves trapped in can be laid directly at his feet. I'm not convinced that he's dead, since he survived the explosion and the fall as shown in issue #14, even if he is in bad shape, but that's neither here nor there. Death is meaningless in comics.

Starscream goes around gathering support for a coup, fully aware that Megatron knows what he's up to. I find the portrayal of Starscream very interesting here. He's ambitious as always, but he also genuinely seems disenchanted with Megatron's leadership and lack of goals, and he seems genuinely to believe in the Decepticon cause rather than simply being out for power. Megatron tells him at one point that he sees Starscream ultimately succeeding in wresting leadership from him one day, and that's enough to rally Starscream behind Megatron against the Autobots. And he refuses to use the opportunity to simply kill Megatron when he's helpless and take his place, saying that leadership must be earned. This seems to be a Starscream that isn't stupid, but recognizes that he's got to have the respect of the troops in order to lead them, and killing an already helpless Megatron isn't likely to get him that respect.

Omega Supreme is one of my favorite figures and characters, so having him show up and save the day was great. His explanation of how he survived the attack sent to finish him off ("I am Omega Supreme") says it all.

One of the themes of this series is the way in which various characters pay for deals with the other side. Sunstreaker is the obvious example, but Thundercracker strays from prevailing dogma and gets shot in the head by Skywarp. Drift is rejected by Thundercracker as a traitor. Ironhide beats Mirage badly because he believes Mirage is a traitor. Both sides are so locked into their causes and beliefs that there's no room for compromise. And considering how long they've been fighting, it's not surprising. But it makes one wonder how peace would ever be possible, assuming the war was ever decisively won by either side. The overall theme of this story seems to explore this idea to some extent, as the Decepticons stagnate without a challenging enemy to fight, and the Autobots fall apart without Prime to rally them, though they are in a terminal situation admittedly.

There's a lot more, but I won't regurgitate the entire plot. Suffice it to say, I'm sorry I missed the issues the first time around. I like the ideas behind the story, and the way in which the characters were used. I'm glad I've been drawn back into reading the comics. Looks like I've missed out on some good stuff.

Review - Maximum Dinobots TPB

Maximum Dinobots - Trade Paperback

I started reading the Transformer comics by IDW when they first began publishing, and for various reasons I dropped out about the time that Devastation began. So it’s been enjoyable to go back and fill in the gaps and catch up on a year and a half of missed stories. “Maximum Dinobots” fills in a lot of those gaps. The slow burn really does pay off quite well when that payoff is finally reached. “Maximum Dinobots” deals with story threads from not only the main series, but also Spotlights Shockwave, Ultra Magnus, Soundwave and Grimlock.

After a flashback to the “glory days” of the Dynobot team, the story starts out with Grimlock on his own, trying to get their spacecraft functioning again. He sends for help and then is located by Scorponok, who has been after him since the events of Spotlight: Grimlock, briefly summarized here. The story follows this conflict between Grimlock and Scorponok, mixed with Sunstreaker and Hunter’s search for Sunstreaker’s original head. Hot Rod and Shockwave are thrown into the mix, along with Soundwave, Ravage and Laserbeak. Given all the characters and loose ends, it should be apparent that the plot is very busy, and thick with characters, and yet it works and works well.

Grimlock also gets some character development, finally. He lost his speech impediment in the IDW series (though we get two “me, Grimlocks” in his internal dialogue as in-jokes) but retained his traditional belligerent attitude. Grimlock is and has been a character who acted based on his own beliefs and goals, while not always taking into account what those around him want, and it comes back to haunt him here. The Dinobots come into conflict with Grimlock, and Swoop briefly abandons the group, before they pull together against the headmaster attack. But it’s Sludge’s near-death that really seems to get through to Grimlock. At the end of the story, he takes responsibility for going awol with the rest of the Dynobot unit, and has seemingly begun to rethink the way he’s lived his life up to this point. He submits to imprisonment by Ultra Magnus without protest, which is something I can’t imagine Grimlock doing in the past.

I loved Shockwave’s part in the story. With a bomb implanted in his chest by Skywatch and with full knowledge that it will be detonated within a certain time if not shut off, he goes to free Soundwave and essentially does as much harm to Skywatch as he can. In one story, Skywatch loses all of their controlled Transformers and is left with nothing except a damaged reputation, just in time for Spike to help run the group in the ongoing series. I loved Shockwave’s exchange with the guy who sent him to stop Grimlock. “Do you know how much damage I could do in 24 hours?” Ha. He’s not too impressed with the humans.

Scorponok’s real head turns up, and is key to defeating his plans. I remember Magnus taking a shot at him in the Ultra Magnus spotlight, and it was nice to finally see that incident and its implications revealed. Sunstreaker gets his head back and goes in for repair, the whole experience having left him very scarred and damaged, leading to his actions in All Hail Megatron. Scorponok, Shockwave and Grimlock are arrested by Ultra Magnus, and Soundwave is free to rejoin Megatron, having been freed by Shockwave from his alt mode imprisonment. All very satisfactory.

About the only unsatisfactory thing about the story is how incompetent Scorponok is. From constantly underestimating the Dynobots, to sending Hot Rod out to be shot rather than doing it himself, the whole situation goes out of his control because Scorponok is way too overconfident. Or rather, the human in the headmaster unit is too overconfident. He did very well in setting up the whole situation with the Machinations and the headmasters, but blew it big time by throwing caution to the wind and openly trying to expose and destroy Skywatch.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed the story. It’s great to see so many of the storylines set up back when I was first reading regularly finally get tied up, though I doubt the original plan was to do so in only five issues. After lots of slow, steady buildup, it all comes to a head in five short issues. And for the most part, the story is successful and interesting, and the characters are used well. “Maximum Dinobots” is well worth reading.