First, before I get into it, I want to mention that I've been enjoying what Image has been doing with the Energon Universe. Transformers, GI Joe and Void Rivals together make a great story with many potential delights ahead.
But I want to talk about Transformers for a moment, here. Obviously I will always favor the original Marvel books, as I grew up on those, and it is damned near impossible to separate that kind of experience from someone. Dreamwave was off to a good start, but they floundered shortly thereafter, and I'm glad that story died off, never to be taken up again. Storywise, IDW made the best TF comics . . . up to a point. Because those were characters instead of the usual good vs. evil type of thing. I can't tell you how it blew my mind when Megatron turned on the Decepticons and put the Autobot emblem on his chest, and how he spent the rest of the comic fighting his darker impulses for the greater good, even if swift and blinding violence would solve a particular problem. That's the kind of shit I love. And I loved it when they ended the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. But when they continued the story? That's when they fucked up. That should have been the end. It got so bad that I told my comics guy that I was going to drop the book. He said, well, it looks like they're ending it in a few months. Are you sure? Since it wasn't much more of a commitment, and I am a completist, I stuck it out to yet another disappointing ending.
Which brings us to Skybound's version. It's good. A lot of crazy shit happens. Ultraviolence throughout is a good sign, and I enjoyed the pure evil of Decepticons killing people simply for the cruelty of it all. And there does seem to be a concerted effort to make this version different from the others. For example, where's fan favorite Bumblebee? I relished his absence until today, when I saw his corpse in a flashback in the new issue. I really hope they don't go any further into that.
But they did something that all the other versions did that I absolutely can't fucking stand, especially since there's an effort to stray from the usual material. And let me not mince words. EVERY SINGLE VERSION OF TRANSFORMERS HAS DONE THIS. I was hoping Skybound would avoid it, but there's just something about Transformers writers. They just can't stay away from it.
The animated movie from the 'Eighties was so powerfully written that every TF writer since can't help themselves. They absolutely have to rip it off, even down to lifting dialogue. I suppose it's not "lifting" if you're doing it from the same series, but all the same, they fucking stole from this movie and dressed it up as fan service.
Not only did the new issue rip off a line from the movie, but it ripped off THE MOST RIPPED OFF LINE FROM THE MOVIE. When IDW's version ended, I told myself if I ever heard the line again, I'd punch the next TF writer I meet. I'm not going to, obviously, but I'm definitely going to shame that person.
"One shall stand . . . one shall fall."
Yes, it's a great line given the circumstances it was originally said in. But to have it repeated over and over again in every alternative variation of the TF story?
FUCK.
THAT.
SHIT.
I should stop reading the book on principle. It's lazy. It's larcenous. And it doesn't even count as fan service. I can't possibly be the only TF fan who is tired of reading the same shit rehashed over and over again. That's why I loved IDW's version so much. They went exploring. Sure, they ripped off the animated movie, too, but I could look the other way due to the reward.
If I could make any request of the TF writers going forward, please please PLEASE stop regurgitating shit you loved from the animated movie. Come up with new shit. New shit that's so powerful that future TF writers after you will want to rip YOU off.
I know I'm asking a lot, but I've come this far. Don't make me give up on the Energon Universe. I WANT to read these books. "One shall stand." For Pete's sake.
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