Transformers: Regeneration One #85 Preview

Rodimus Prime wrote:Can't wait. I'm gonna get covers A and B, but that Magnus cover looks hideous. Ugly art.

Super Megatron wrote:Looks pretty good. Too bad the idea of Optimus Prime beating, much less killing, Megatron is a bit of a stretch...

Rodimus Prime wrote:So is "Auntie" an UK thing? Because in the original US comics there was no mention of this program. The Ark was referred to as just that, The Ark.

PAGE 4: We’re starting a little late in the issue with this commentary, so as not to spoil a shocker earlier on… we get to Optimus Prime and Megatron fighting it out, just as they’ve always done. Did you find it hard to get back into drawing the classic characters like them again? Did you have to re-teach yourself how to do it?

ANDREW WILDMAN: No. I have been drawing these two guys a lot over the years in the form of sketches at conventions so they still feel very familiar. Cool bit about this scene is that I had the opportunity to start knocking chunks off of them

PAGE 5: How much free reign are you given to draw a particular panel? Do you always follow what is specified in the script or break away from that if you feel it would look better?

ANDREW WILDMAN Simon and myself have had a long creative relationship and we understand each other’s way of working. It is always clear to me that Simon has this all very well worked out in his head. It is rare that anything is not clear in the script. That said, occasionally I feel that something needs to be staged slightly differently. We discuss it and just work out what is the best solution. Our experience in TV is showing up a lot as well. Simon’s scripts often read more like a TV script and my art is looking more and more like a series of storyboards. But I like all that. I think it is giving it a more cinematic feel.

PAGE 6: With Kup struggling as the battle continues—how long would this page have taken you to draw? And did you go through many revisions on it before you came to how it looks now?

ANDREW WILDMAN: Very few revisions. Don’t have time for that. As soon as I read it I get an image in my mind as to what the page will look like. I then do a quick thumbnail on the script itself and then just draw it up full size. The majority of these pages take the same amount of time i.e. two pages a day. I often find that if you ponder a page for too long it loses life. trust your instincts and get it down quick. That way it retains more life and vibrancy

PAGE 5: Prime and Megatron continue their battle while Auntie poses a bigger threat... Did you go back and look at all of their previous fights to get an idea of how to approach this one?

ANDREW WILDMAN: Nope. Just piled in.

PAGE 6: At this stage, can you see yourself penciling every issue in Regeneration One or having some other input if another artist should come in?

ANDREW WILDMAN: I have been asked that a lot. Will have to see. Couldn’t possibly say

Rodimus Prime wrote:So I just finished reading the issue, and I'm somewhat disappointed. It was definitely a clever way to kill Megatron, and save Optimus's honor and life at the same time. But the fight itself was just average. I was expecting a lot more ass-kicking on both sides. Oh well. 1 thing did make me happy, though: Springer got offed by Megatron. I never liked him. Good riddance. Can't wait until Grimlock's story starts up. Should be more exciting than this 1st arc was, not that this was bad. Just average. At least Galvatron is back. Now, hopefully it will be explained what happened to Shockwave.

Cyber Bishop wrote:I kind of had a feeling that was why Megs was Keeping Ratchet around and also was the reason he was able to access the Ark and have the knowledge to lobotomize the Decepticons like he did. I was wondering when Galvatron would be coming back and now that question is answered.. I am VERY curious as to how Scorponok is back though unless it had something to do with the Last Autobot causing the rebirth of Cybertron (as was explained) back in issue 80.?

Rodimus Prime wrote:So I just finished reading the issue, and I'm somewhat disappointed. It was definitely a clever way to kill Megatron, and save Optimus's honor and life at the same time. But the fight itself was just average. I was expecting a lot more ass-kicking on both sides. Oh well. 1 thing did make me happy, though: Springer got offed by Megatron. I never liked him. Good riddance. Can't wait until Grimlock's story starts up. Should be more exciting than this 1st arc was, not that this was bad. Just average. At least Galvatron is back. Now, hopefully it will be explained what happened to Shockwave.

Rodimus Prime wrote:The real Scorponok never died. Lord Zarak did. The real Scorponok's head was stored away on nebulos, along with Max and the others who went there, and all had to be done was getting a new body built for himself.

norwichchris wrote:The real question is will the zombie decepticons come back to life as Galvatrons new army? I really do hope that he does have a fight with Optimus Prime in the end he should do.

norwichchris wrote: Scorponok I was kinda hoping he wouldn't come back again as his time has passed for good and did have a really good death scene with Unicron burning him alive whilst defending Cybertron.

Banjo-Tron wrote:I thought the issue was pretty good. I was sad to see 3 characters bite the big one, and I can't quite accept that the remaining 15 issues will not feature Megatron in some shape or form. But why did Prime kill Megatron when he didn't know that Auntie was beaten? He could have easily subdued him, seeing as he kept ripping bits of him off. He took a punt that Megatron was bluffing, or he just didn't care about obliterating the earth and all his comrades? Is he that jaded?

Also, I get the feeling that Starscream may still be alive, seeing as he had some concept of what was going on. Otherwise, that whole sub-plot was a red herring. Hopefully we will see more of him. I'm irritated that Spike survived as well, and was hoping that he would have died destroying Auntie. Circuit Smasher sucks.

I think it's amazing that in 5 issues not a great deal has happened, IMO. I guess that is modern comic techniques for you; lots of decompression everywhere. Still, it was a decent story arc and I can't wait for the next. The trade paperback is now up for pre-order as well.

norwichchris wrote:I bought this wednesday and felt it was good end to the story and was very glad to see Galvatron return at the end.

The part with Ratchet was also very well done, glad they did something with that where as in Generation two they totally ignored it completely.

The real question is will the zombie decepticons come back to life as Galvatrons new army? I really do hope that he does have a fight with Optimus Prime in the end he should do.

Scorponok I was kinda hoping he wouldn't come back again as his time has passed for good and did have a really good death scene with Unicron burning him alive whilst defending Cybertron.

burning_sirius wrote:...see if any influence Zarak had on him still lingers.

Rodimus Prime wrote:
There's no influence from Zarak on Scorponok. They were never connected. Zarak just basically hijacked Scorponok's body, and now he has a new one. The Prime/Hi-Q comparison doesn't really apply. Headmasters and Powermasters are completely different in the way they combine and what the purpose of that combination is.

burning_sirius wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:
There's no influence from Zarak on Scorponok. They were never connected. Zarak just basically hijacked Scorponok's body, and now he has a new one. The Prime/Hi-Q comparison doesn't really apply. Headmasters and Powermasters are completely different in the way they combine and what the purpose of that combination is.

Both use binary bonding.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

burning_sirius wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:
There's no influence from Zarak on Scorponok. They were never connected. Zarak just basically hijacked Scorponok's body, and now he has a new one. The Prime/Hi-Q comparison doesn't really apply. Headmasters and Powermasters are completely different in the way they combine and what the purpose of that combination is.

Both use binary bonding.

OK, I'll give you that 1. After further thought, I also wonder how Zarak's and Spike's bonding were different. They were both Headmasters, but while Spike and Max struggled to coexist, Zarak was in complete control of Scorponok's body. Did the entirety of Scorponok's consciousness remain on Nebulos, unlike Maximus? Is that why he had no trouble re-emerging so easily? Hopefully this will be explained in the upcoming issues.

skyshadowprimus wrote:My thoughts were always that Spike formed Cerebros's head which in turn then formed Fort Max's head so even without Spike you have Fort Max's head albeit incomplete. You can look at it two different ways, either Cerebros makes a full Fort Max head comeplete with brain module or Spike would need to be at the centre.

I'm of the opinion it's the former as you remember Fort Max was shown with a head with Spike on his shoulder wearing his helmet and even talked, so perhaps he did not need Spike to form his head for him to have some independent thought and action?

The difference with Zarak was without him Scorponok had no head whatsoever, and even referred to himself as Zarak rather than Scorponok so it could have been Zarak did literally make use of Scorponok's body.

Guess we need SF to actually address this in the upcoming story

Rodimus Prime wrote: Yeah, I hope he puts a little meat on the bones in the new stories, instead of just using the next 15 issues to tie loose ends up. Even though the quality and pacing of the story is subpar to the original Gen 1 stuff. Still better than anything else I've seen so far.

skyshadowprimus wrote: I hold the original comics in some kind of religious esteem as they are my treasured childhood memories and it's hard to review them objectively as an adult.

Think of the UK stuff with Fallen Angel back in Feb 1987 that plot spanned two years finally culminating in Time Wars in 1989, it's what SF does best

Rodimus Prime wrote:

skyshadowprimus wrote:

Think of the UK stuff with Fallen Angel back in Feb 1987 that plot spanned two years finally culminating in Time Wars in 1989, it's what SF does best

Never read the UK stuff. I tried to, but the art is hideous, it put me off too much.