Transformers: Generation 2 #2

[shakalooloo]

What happens after Megatron gets away from Cobra and GI Joe. The final fate of Hot Spot! Simon Furman writing some Joe characters! A tank/fire truck chase scene!

Apologies for the poor scan quality, but these Titan reprints have terrible binding, and I'll be damned if I'm buying another copy of this material.





If an artist doesn't want to draw the process of a robot converting to vehicle form, I don't think they're suited to a Transformers comic.





Wow, Optimus Prime gave orders for his troops not to be taken alive. The "Not your father's Autobot!" tagline from issue 1's cover was actually pretty accurate!

Before the next scan, Megatron fights Fortress Maximus aboard the Ark, buying time for Skydive to rescue Doctor Biggles-Jones.



Cool philosophy Skydive, but don't interrupt Scarlett and Doctor Biggles-Jones getting re-acquainted!

Art by Andrew Wildman and Manny Galen.

Comments

[tcampbell1000]

I don't exactly get the claim that Transformers have "no concept of true death" when Skydive goes on to talk about "when my time comes." Like, are Autobots and Decepticons really fighting and dying and thinking, "Well, this is inconvenient, but it's just more reason to look forward to the day we all recombine into our Neo-Cybertron alt mode at the Great Defragging"? Seems like you can't even say "true death" without understanding that it's different from the kind you can undo with a parts reassembly and a hard reboot. The bots in Transformers: The Movie seemed to know what was up, Optimus living on in the Matrix being more the exception than the rule.

[shakalooloo]

Skydive's navel-gazing makes no sense at all, unless when he's talking about the 'concept of' true death, he means 'fear of'?

Or by 'true death' he means some form of oblivion, and believing in any sort of afterlife precludes that?

[cainofdreaming]

I think it's more that more often than not they can just be rebuilt. I mean, there's just three internal components that are actually necessary for survival.

[shakalooloo]

So losing those three components would result in a true death. Hardly an unthinkable possibility.

Hell, Skydive was at Optimus Prime's funeral where his corpse got shot into space!

[cainofdreaming]

And he came back.

Actually enough damage to any single one would be enough to kill. But they're small targets in a very big body.

[shakalooloo]

Nah, you can get by with just two of Rossum's trinity.

Fair point on Prime though - Skydive has just become self-aware of comic book death rules!

[cainofdreaming]

Maybe you can manage with a broken transformation cog, but brain module or spark casing? Can you really survive without a mind or an animating force?

[jlbarnett]

this predates IDWs three keys to Cybertronian life and even the concept of sparks

it's kind of disappointing, the cartoon which barely touched on the concept of death took it more seriously than the comic

[tcampbell1000]

It's the "inconceivable" part that trips me up. It's like he's saying, "I can't even SAY the word 'death' without blowing a circuit!" and then doesn't blow a circuit.

[cainofdreaming]

Fortress Maximus. What a tragic story, however much he tries he will never be Optimus Prime.

[shakalooloo]

He had an awesome send-off in Gen 1, wrecking Galvatron and becoming the protector of Earth, only to get trashed here so unceremoniously.

[zylly]

I always really hated how casually Fort Max and Spike were disposed of. Very much a case of "get rid of the old guy to show how badass the bad guy's become."

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Absolutely hated it.

Y that they barely even got Fort Max right only served to undermine the point of it all.

[scorntx]

Anecdote: At a young and impressionable age, reading this and seeing Hot Spot in action made quite an impact.
It helps that it's probably the most he's done... ever.
(y'know, on his own, rather than just being Defensor's torso. Usually it's First Aid who gets all the screentime.)


"I hope when my time comes, Hawk... I can be as strong as Fortress Maximus and Hot Spot were today!"
"... what about Spike?"
"Meh."
It's a pretty cas attitude to Spike dying. We never even learn if Buster hears about his bro's death.

[shakalooloo]

Aerialbots always seem to be the go-to Autobot combiner team. As someone that had the Protectobots as a child, I was always disappointed that they never did anything.

Also, slightly funny that Cobra Commander is demanding Hot Spot's cab when it's his arms that form that part of his vehicle form, and not his head!

[jlbarnett]

I've always felt Defensor seemed like the best all around of the Autobot combiners

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Defensor was cool, but Computron was my favorite.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I guess Aerialbots have the benefit of being the first.

[scorntx]

First, and probably cheapest, because five jets is easier on the budget than a fire truck, ambulance, helicopter, car and motorbike.

[beyondthefringe]

Alas, poor Hot Spot, we knew him... wait, who was he again?

I was not a fan of Transformers G2. The redesigns were lackluster and the comic downright ugly.

[shakalooloo]

It did give us some great Geoff Senior pages later on, but yeah, it was mostly ugly as sin, and Jhiaxus' minions were very uninspired, design-wise.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I was so disappointed when even Andrew Wildman's art didn't look like Andrew Wildman's art, as it was in G1.

[cainofdreaming]

Is anyone fan of G2? Its only redeeming feature is that it's not Kiss Players.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

G2 Transformers was better than no Transformers?

[shakalooloo]

Given that 'no Transformers' > 'Bay Transformers', that's not necessarily true.

[zylly]

The worst part of Hot Spot's sacrifice is how it's ultimately rendered somewhat meaningless when Megatron reveals he only gave Cobra Commander nonfunctional and useless junk.

Granted, even the junk of an advanced civilization might hold secrets Cobra could ferret out, but it's still even more tragic that way.

[super_fly]

While the GI Joe comic prior to this issue had a steady decline in art quality, the art here seems to go up and down from to panel

One consistency however is the Transformers here look more like Gobots.