It's hilarious that G2 was canceled due to "low readership" since Marvel writers these days would sell their souls, or at least their marriages, for those numbers. G2 also has one of the all-time great lines from Megatron about Starscream - "Why? That's what they all asked me. Why him... why Starscream? Why, of all the Decepticons, did I decide to revitalize the one whose record of deceit and betrayal is legend? Because I'm an idiot, that's why!"
@@BagOfMagicFood That's a fair mistake. Both are prominently red, both are pretty gun and action happy, both have horns... The Hound and Huffer thing was a lot less understandable (and kind of lol-worthy) because in the panel Linkara displayed, the narration specifically refers to the jeep as Hound.
I don’t remember where I read this, but my favourite justification I’ve seen for Megatron keeping Starscream around is that according to the decepticon philosophy of valuing strength above all else , if Starscream were ever to successfully take leadership from Megatron then that would be Megs’ own fault for being weak enough to let him do so. He keeps him around to motivate himself to stay strong and never get complacent.
Yup. It ties in with primes concern on how when he kicked the bucket the autobots pretty much fell apart on the command front and in the case of "target 2006" turned to megatron for leadership. The uk comic did some good stories on it. Its a nice statement on the respective factions cultures as the bots NEED op while the cons have no shortage of replacements for megs.
That's my favorite too. Basically if Starscream ever managed to win then he deserved to win and lead. Also the idea that while he has no loyalty to Megatron, Starscream is loyal to the Decepticon cause.
A great point there. Mind you, Megatron is (more often than not) the founder of the Decepticons and by extension the one who wrote said decepticon philosophy. So yeah, he's still an idiot for keeping Starscream around, but a well written idiot nonetheless.
@@Maswartz226 Starscream is loyal to the Decepticons... but he's even more loyal to Starscream. I remember one of his lines from the cartoon: "I will rule the universe... even if I'm the only one _left_ in the universe!"
I like to think of it as an "every court needs a jester" kind of situation. Even Megatron understands that he isnt infallible, but he also knows that needs to appear such or else his troops will no longer respect/fear him. With starscream around though, he will always have someone to question his plans without it making him looking weak in proces, cause hell, its starscream. He always tries to get every advantage he can, allowing Megatron too actually understand when he is making a mistake and act accordingly.
Hell imagine if Cybertron joined the Federation, and we got say a Micromaster or a Mini-Con serving aboard a starship. One of the plans of Star Trek VS Transformers was to introduce a new character that could transform into a Tricorder, so... But then again, one of the requirements of a planet to join is to be wholly united.
Now thinking about I wonder what a Star wars crossover could be like? Like Cybertron could be from the unknown regions of the galaxy and the war finally expanded outside of it to republic/empire. Now I’m imaging how crazy it would be considering how droids are treated in this universe and even the autobots would find it offensive. Or if it takes place during the clone wars era and the Decepticons created some sort of virus or something to make all of the CIS battle droids rebel against there masters and become decepicons themselves forcing the autobots to fight for the republic.
@@brandonlyon730 Well there was a fanfic that had The Ark instead crash land on a planet in the Outer Rim and being reawakened during the Yuuzhan Vong war in the EU. I think it was called "Vericus Rex" or something. In there it has it so that Optimus Prime is actually force sensitive and when they actually find Cybertron the war had gone on for so long both sides no longer had the will to continue fighting and so Megatron excluded who got his metallic chestier kicked by Luke the Cybertonians joined the Galactic Alliance.
You know, hearing "Transformers dragged kicking and screaming into the 90's" I can't help but see Optimus dragged off like a kid into the time out corner saying "NO I DON'T WANT TO CONSTANTLY SCOWL, I WANT GOOD ARTWORK, I DON'T EVEN LIKE GUNS!"
That image becomes funnier if you picture Megatron being all for being able to shoot and kill more things... until he sees his G2 body and the green and purple color scheme that comes with it and then he ends up having to be being dragged kicking and screaming also.
Starscream wasn't changed by the Matrix. He was changed...by Christmas! It's the followup to the UK Transformers Holiday Special we were all waiting for!
What makes Regeneration One crazier in hindsight is that, while they obviously can’t be mentioned for legal reasons, Megatron ended up slaughtering the marvel superheroes and Godzilla in their universe
Thanos: I have eliminated half of the universe with a mere snap of my fingers. Megatron while standing in front of Godzilla's corpse: This is bad comedy. (blasts Thanos's head off)
I'm not sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, Megatron's one of my favorite villains. On the other hand, how could the Marvel heroes drop the ball so hard?!
I think Hasbro knew at this point that they would be indeed forced into a new age, that's why they held off on it until the Beast Wars. Why I love the franchise, lives up to it's namesake and does away with timescaling, instead adapting to the new era in new, unique ways as Bludgeon's existence kinda showed that they anticipated a speculator boom in the USA.
Linkara finally getting Trailbreaker's name right is infinitely superior character development to Jhiaxus just getting pissier as to the comic goes on.
About Jhiaxus being functionally identical to Megatron, that's kinda the point of the character. He considers himself this superior being who has abandoned the Autobot/decepticon context, but ultimately he is just another tyrant wanting to control the universe or whatever. This is reflected in him continuously losing his sanity as the series progresses and dropping the façade.
Jhiaxus was like the rich president who tried to erase his past but the links to his shady past came back to haunt him It's like Grayson creed who thought he was better than all.mutants but come to find out his parents was mutants Jhiaxus remembered he was a deception or he was created by a process by deceptions he knew who prime, and Megatron. Was before he met them surely he heard stories about them from leige maximo
If I recall there was an early UK story where Starscream did try to betray Megatron and this sparked a rivalry with the more loyal Ravage. And even then, that was just the once.
I have to admit, Linkara fiddling with a toy he's owned since a kid and then making a wooshing sound resonates with me. Mostly because I am exactly the kind of person who still does that... *makes pewpew noises with SIxshot*
@@muhaoai4693 None actually. I couldn't figure out you had to separate the legs to fold them out and didn't want to risk breaking a $70-ish toy by forcing it too much. ...Naturally my care was undone by moving his arm too far and snapping off a chest wing. I fixed it, but in the moment I was panicking.
I can't even begin to tell you how much I totally ship Megatron and Starscream as a begrudgingly affectionate couple when none of the other Decepticons ate around. And I for one can totally see Megatron, Brokeback Mountain-style, turning to Starscream and saying, "Why can't I quit you?" Before giving Starscream a one armed hug and a noggie. XD
As soon as I heard "Biggles" I thought it would make for a great joke about Biggles and the Menace from Space given the Transformers are from space, and I was so happy when Linkara said it.
I'm glad that you touched on 84 and Secrets and Lies even if briefly. I was expecting a brief nod at the end of the retrospective at most just to show that Furman and IDW still revisit the old Marvel continuity from time to time, much like you did with Cassandra Cain's Rebirth stories at the end of that retrospective. And yeah that issue with Optimus seems very out of character but I enjoy it for the look back at Man of Iron and for finally doing something interesting with Punch/Counterpunch.
People always say that Starscream main thing is his treachery. Yet, not many people mention how often he turns himself into a abomination. Seriously, I think it's easier to count the versions that did not go full eldritch horror or undead.
He really didn’t become one in transformers animated, though he did make a half of dozen clones of himself, each with a main aspect of his personality: his cowardness, his huge ass ego, being a suck up, being a huge liar, and his feminine side.
You’re essentially right. - Died and became a ghost, then made a deal with Unicron to get his body back, - Got a taste of godlike power and slaughtered hundreds of Transformers, - Tried possessing the Matrix and becoming quote-unquote: “A living weapon,” only to give it up when it realize it was turning him good, - That same godlike power from before manifesting his body and becoming an embodiment of 4 ancient dudes, - Traveling to the future as a ghost and possessing a robot that turns into a comic-relief wasp, - Growing to colossal size and literally fighting god, - His corpse being reanimated by a shard of the ultimate life force, thus granting him immortality, - Trying to steal Megatron’s ability to raise the dead, Then two seasons later convincing a scientist to mix the voodoo with a synthetic formula to create vampire zombies, - Capturing a group of midgets to give himself godlike power, And probably most damning of all… - Turning into a goddamn Quintesson and being able to erase beings from existence.
I like that while Linkara accidentally called Hound "Huffer", he got the names right for characters who share molds and designs like Bumblebee and cliff jumper and Starscream, thundercracker, and Skywarp
It's honestly a weird case of me somehow seeing his name wrong - like maybe I spotted his name said elsewhere on the TFWiki page for the issue and somehow replaced Hound's name instead of what was actually on the page. Otherwise I TRIED to get the names correct whenever possible.
It's always quaint to remember a time when Transformers wasn't nearly as popular as G.I. Joe. Now, Transformers is such a staple, the only Hasbro properties you mostly see are that and My Little Pony. I've just only recently started seeing G.I. Joe merch again.
"What is it about this continuity that makes most Transformers crash on it instead of landing safely?" It started out as a flaw in their training exercise, but then it just became tradition. Now they just do it because it's what they've always done.
I feel sorry for you, you having to see the *90s* all over again. Oh well, at least this era gave us the immortal "because I'm an idiot" exchange. I also appreciated Furman's humor with 'gee axe us'. Clever.
18:07 That energy, the Swarm, apparently went on to evolve into the distinctly far more enlightened Vok from Beast Wars in the 3H and 2006 IDW Beast Wars comics (borrowing from Larry DiTillio's plan to explain who the Vok were). Somehow.
I always hoped they gave Megatron an actual reason as to why he keeps trusting Starscream. Something like "he keeps me on my toes", or "the day he sucessfully overthrows, would be the day that would demostrate I'm no longer fit to lead the Decepticons". But no. He's just an idiot.
Canadian authorities not noticing things going on in their own backyard seems to be a thing in comics. It was in the pages of The Incredible Hulk that an entire underground city built by the Soviets went unnoticed.
I proudly own a Masterpiece Star Saber as one of the few non-War for Cybertron Trilogy TFs in my collection, and the only Masterpiece toy I’m willing to shill out the amount demanded for this high-end line, because of how much I like that character. Was so happy that TF84 introduced him and his nemesis into the Marvel continuity.
@@myriadmediamusings For me Star Saber is the one thing Furman did better than Roberts, and yeah his MP toy is great and is a good Generations stand-in until we get Gen Star Saber. If that ever happens. I am concerned though, Star Saber's basically the only one of that Autobot three-way leadership thing who we don't know what happens to, so knowing Furman he probably dies at the hands of Bludgeon or something.
hmm, are the incarnations you're thinking of the ones that butcher the beloved characters or okay? I heard that the IDW starsaber is a great disservice to the character who in the original setting was basically a damn Brave before the Brave series
Funny that this retrospective would end on April Fools, Ohh spoiler alert 'I hope you lot can see through the lie' Linkara will review Beast Wars the TV series during early Summer.
Mad respect to the endlessly suffering mechanic that is Megatron. The dude is not only dealing with endless political awfulness, but apparently has the technical skills to rebuild both Transformers and starships. Imagine the months or years of hard labor that man does every time he has to rebuild something. Honestly, you kinda feel bad for him losing all the time. He's the hardest working man on Cybertron. Megatron puts his energon, antifreeze and tears into everything he does and works tirelessly at the most menial of tasks because he must for his cause.
Interestingly, a few of Generation 2's ideas were originally planned to be followed up on in Beast Wars. Some of Larry DiTillo and Bob Forward's original ideas for season three were for the Vok aliens that seeded Earth with energon to be descended from a repentant Swarm, and Tarantulas was supposed to be descendant of from Jhiaxus's Cybertronian Empire.
Considering this came out on April Fools, I was half-expecting this to pull a gotcha and be a review of like IDW's Go-Bots series or something like that.
Compounding your Steven Universe Future joke, Jhiaxis and his faction are pretty much the Homeworld Gems. So, I guess that means the Autobots on Earth are the Crystal Gems, and Spike is Steven (being a Power Master and all).
I have that one you held! Or the White and Red one at least... I was really blown away at the articulation of this series of figures considering up till then the all the lil guys were very awkward in their robot mode.
I...actually thought “I’m an idiot” was you being snarky only to look at the screen and realizing that it’s [actual Generation 2 dialogue]...just wow 😂
Thing is, those comics kinda get fused with the shattered glass stuff... Plus, those comics don't have scans or collected editions anywhere as far as I know 😅
@@master5gamingandotherstuff490 to me the best comics i have from Fun publications is the beast wars comic prequel and the stunticon job as i felt the prequel felt like a pilot and stunticon job felt like a idea for TFA season 4
@@master5gamingandotherstuff490 3 years late but shockingly enough? They do have scans. Thanks to the efforts of TFWiki and just other fans, you can basically read those stories. The struggle is that... well... they were never really a comic series in the traditional sense. They were stories published in Transformers Timelines and in Transformers Club mags so Classics kind of just got spread out.
"The fate of the fleshlings means nothing to me. Nothing! So why can't I resist this so-called 'Christmas Spirit'?" *Shrugs* I don't know. That Christmas comic was all I could think of when he said that line. As if it wasn't The Matrix making him do good, but actually that it just so happens to be Christmas on Earth and he's permanently affected by the spirit of the season after his first encounter with it.
And in my next randomly timed praise of Transformers Prime, they all had the guns built in while being their hands or arm cannons or whatnot. Point, Prime.
Seriously doubt he'll ever do a retrospective on that, since he only does so for comics that have special relevance to himself. That said, he is a fan of Transformers; so I wouldn't put it past him to review anything from the IDW2005 continuity. Heck, it's entirely likely that somebody will patreon him to review something from that line-up. That and I wouldn't be surprised if he does a review of that Arcee Spotlight.
Beast Wars actually makes the crashing make sense. The high concentrations of raw energon on earth in its prehistoric days would have wreaked havoc on their ships, which would have caused the crashes.
I feel like Generation 2 has gotten something of a bit more appreciation as of late, at least when it comes to the toyline because of the alt colors or some designs. Laser Optimus Prime remains to be one of my favorite designs of the character, especially when it was reused for Scourge of Robots in Disguise 2001. Your comic review of the first issue of G2 years back was where I first learned of that series so Im eager to see it played out now that we all know the story of the first Marvel run. As for Regeneration One, this’ll also be interesting. I tend to hear a lot of flack or negativity upon this series, with a lot saying that Transformers 84 is the better of the IDW continuations of the Marvel Comics story.
7:36 I mean by IDW logic, all they had to do was replace his transformation cog. The whole Figure Alteration System thing is exclusive to the UK comic anyway.
I'm sort of surprised Transformers: XTREME wasn't a thing in the 90's... also please, PLEASE tell me I'm wrong, I need the skateboard Transformer with the backwards cap and a toothpick that's actually a lazer beam. Incidentally at 21:30 I imagined Megatron wearing a blonde wig yelling, "But I love him!"
Oh cool! I forgot you were doing these too. I was in London on free coming book day 2012 at the launch of the comic and got to meet Furman and wild man and got them to sign old comics! I really liked the some elements of the crazy art of the g2 comic. That artist went on to do sone cool stuff
Someone’s probably said it already, but Megatron getting Anti-matter powers was a reference to IDW Megs getting similar abilities. Don’t know why they brought it here, but that’s what’s up.
nope. its a reference to the time he used it in the UK comic when he fought prime and ultra magnus. megs has always had the ability , its in his bio, its just never been used in the US comic for some reason. they even use the same weird effect from his eyes that they used back then. roberts was a reader back then and used it in his run. TBH i think it was meant to be a "ying/yang" thing. primes got the creation matrix , which originally was just a program in his head, and megs has his anti matter powers. one creates, the other destroys.
It's a reference to Megatron's original bio saying he somehow teleports antimatter from a black hole to supercharge his cannon, but the excerpt for the toy box left out the part about it going into the cannon, so the UK writers thought he just emitted raw antimatter from his body.
Takara was pushing a new transformer line in 1989 based on their Victory series. This had some great toys like Star Saber, Black Scorpinox, Victory Leo, and Deathasaurus. Legend had it that Takara approached Hasbro with this toy line, but Hasbro said, "no thanks, we are going with the Action Master line" Imagine if they brought the Victory toys to the states........
Coming back to this review after the April 2022 announcement of a new Jihaxus toy coming via the Transformers Legacy toyline. This review actually gave me a new appreciation for the character and you can bet I pre-ordered him. Interestingly, this upcoming Legacy toy is only the third version of the character to be released, is the first one to be accurate to his original look, and is the first version to be entirely original and not be a redeco/retool.
3:22 Ah yes, ball joints, I just bought a Cyberverse Grimlock and his legs keep popping off while I tried to transform him into T-Rex mode. Honestly the transformation is needlessly difficult (does not help that the instructions are not packed in so you have to go to the support website but they were too vague so I found a review of it instead), I had an easier time with my Cybertron Optimus toy and that thing is HUGE! (Sadly some of the parts are now missing and I don't know where it even is). Also that fire sword... "Me Grimlock like to much translucent Cheetos!"
I'd love to see the idea of Megatron turning into a gun get reworked in a future series at some point, Being a Transformer who turns to a weapon that can only be used by other Transformers and yet he's a lead of their people seems interesting, specially in some continuities they play around with the idea of Decepticons s being slaves or build for war. A master would want his slave to turn into his weapon.
@@AlexSeverinski Well I had in mind for a gun would be a transformer that turns into a shoulder mounted blaster that attaches to the back of the another transformer. They already make a transformer toy like this, I seen them do something like this in the latest show,
As for why so many Transformers crash their ships on Earth, well they were here first and used it as the legal right to drop all their junk on our planet. I am disappointed that this didn’t mention when Starscream is being corrupted you the Matrix he says “Optimus, help me! I don’t want to be good!”
Funny thing with Generation 2, my first ever Transformers figure was G2 Slag, the one that was colored green, gold, & red. I don't know what happened to it, most likely either broken or carted off to a thrift store, but that was where my interest in Trasformers started. I was lucky enough to have re-runs of the show play on local channels, and was often sad that toys of the characters I really liked weren't available anymore. I did once ask for Power Master Optimus Prime for Christmas, but it was outside my parents' budget.
I feel like the relationship between this and the G1 comics is similar to the relationship between Tenchi in Tokyo and Tenchi Universe. They start out with the characters in a similar situation to how they were at the end of the previous series so it seems like a sequel, but then it turns out that it actually isn't.
Seeing the quality of the scans honestly just makes me wish that at some point or another the G2 comics would just get a proper reprinting. I mean sure, they are BAD comics and stuff that at this point has been ignored in this continuity... but they were still old-school Marvel Comics and considering that at this point we have the entire old-series and most of the UK issues available in glorious modern printing, it'd just be nice to have this to complete everything. No the Hachette books technically don't count. They're fantastic as far as having an efficient way to read all the comics is concerned but from what I can tell they never had a proper digital which really is what would be great to have.
As a late 90s early 2000s kid, I remember megatron as a tank and was confused to find out he was gun later on. Its now good to know my older brothers gi joe toys are the explanation for that ratial change
![เปิด อาณาจักร หมื่นล้าน "สาระตั้ม" l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3XE0nPF4YkQ/mqdefault.jpg)
It's hilarious that G2 was canceled due to "low readership" since Marvel writers these days would sell their souls, or at least their marriages, for those numbers.
G2 also has one of the all-time great lines from Megatron about Starscream -
"Why? That's what they all asked me. Why him... why Starscream? Why, of all the Decepticons, did I decide to revitalize the one whose record of deceit and betrayal is legend? Because I'm an idiot, that's why!"
I have to chuckle at Prime mentioning he was tempted to record that.
I imagine Frank Welker saying that.
Linkara: "I am apparently incapable of distinguishing between Hound and Huffer. Won't make that mistake again. So anyway, Cliffjumper here..."
I actually mistook Sideswipe for Cliffjumper because the red was swapped to his head and his "horns" were drawn more prominently.
@@BagOfMagicFood That's a fair mistake. Both are prominently red, both are pretty gun and action happy, both have horns...
The Hound and Huffer thing was a lot less understandable (and kind of lol-worthy) because in the panel Linkara displayed, the narration specifically refers to the jeep as Hound.
I laughed way too hard at that.
*Transformers: Energon Flashbacks intensify*
@@TF2Fan101 CARS IN SPACE!!!
if you get that reference congrats you spend way too much time on the TFWiki
I don’t remember where I read this, but my favourite justification I’ve seen for Megatron keeping Starscream around is that according to the decepticon philosophy of valuing strength above all else , if Starscream were ever to successfully take leadership from Megatron then that would be Megs’ own fault for being weak enough to let him do so. He keeps him around to motivate himself to stay strong and never get complacent.
Yup. It ties in with primes concern on how when he kicked the bucket the autobots pretty much fell apart on the command front and in the case of "target 2006" turned to megatron for leadership. The uk comic did some good stories on it. Its a nice statement on the respective factions cultures as the bots NEED op while the cons have no shortage of replacements for megs.
That's my favorite too. Basically if Starscream ever managed to win then he deserved to win and lead. Also the idea that while he has no loyalty to Megatron, Starscream is loyal to the Decepticon cause.
A great point there. Mind you, Megatron is (more often than not) the founder of the Decepticons and by extension the one who wrote said decepticon philosophy. So yeah, he's still an idiot for keeping Starscream around, but a well written idiot nonetheless.
@@Maswartz226 Starscream is loyal to the Decepticons... but he's even more loyal to Starscream.
I remember one of his lines from the cartoon: "I will rule the universe... even if I'm the only one _left_ in the universe!"
I like to think of it as an "every court needs a jester" kind of situation.
Even Megatron understands that he isnt infallible, but he also knows that needs to appear such or else his troops will no longer respect/fear him.
With starscream around though, he will always have someone to question his plans without it making him looking weak in proces, cause hell, its starscream. He always tries to get every advantage he can, allowing Megatron too actually understand when he is making a mistake and act accordingly.
I don't know why but the image of Optimus and Megatron casually questioning Starscream and annoying him is really funny to me.
Jhiaxus: Am I a murdering tyrant? *planet blows up in the background* No it's the Autobots that are wrong.
And Starscream already DID merge with an ancient artifact before, knowing how it went down last time.
@@Gaia_BentosZX5 screamer never learns Megatron pointed that out several times
You are stars cream you will fail
@@Gaia_BentosZX5 he never learns when to quit
I love the idea of Transformers and Star Trek sharing a universe.
"So should we go to Cybertron?"
"Hell no, they're crazy and they'll kill us"
Hell imagine if Cybertron joined the Federation, and we got say a Micromaster or a Mini-Con serving aboard a starship. One of the plans of Star Trek VS Transformers was to introduce a new character that could transform into a Tricorder, so...
But then again, one of the requirements of a planet to join is to be wholly united.
Now thinking about I wonder what a Star wars crossover could be like? Like Cybertron could be from the unknown regions of the galaxy and the war finally expanded outside of it to republic/empire. Now I’m imaging how crazy it would be considering how droids are treated in this universe and even the autobots would find it offensive. Or if it takes place during the clone wars era and the Decepticons created some sort of virus or something to make all of the CIS battle droids rebel against there masters and become decepicons themselves forcing the autobots to fight for the republic.
@@brandonlyon730 I feel like the Decepticons, especially the IDW 05 Decepticons would do serious damage to the Empire.
@@brandonlyon730 Well there was a fanfic that had The Ark instead crash land on a planet in the Outer Rim and being reawakened during the Yuuzhan Vong war in the EU. I think it was called "Vericus Rex" or something. In there it has it so that Optimus Prime is actually force sensitive and when they actually find Cybertron the war had gone on for so long both sides no longer had the will to continue fighting and so Megatron excluded who got his metallic chestier kicked by Luke the Cybertonians joined the Galactic Alliance.
You know, hearing "Transformers dragged kicking and screaming into the 90's" I can't help but see Optimus dragged off like a kid into the time out corner saying "NO I DON'T WANT TO CONSTANTLY SCOWL, I WANT GOOD ARTWORK, I DON'T EVEN LIKE GUNS!"
That image becomes funnier if you picture Megatron being all for being able to shoot and kill more things... until he sees his G2 body and the green and purple color scheme that comes with it and then he ends up having to be being dragged kicking and screaming also.
Starscream wasn't changed by the Matrix.
He was changed...by Christmas! It's the followup to the UK Transformers Holiday Special we were all waiting for!
Starscream betrays everyone.
Megatron: For 5 minutes, could you not be yourself.
Starscream: NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!
You forgot to add "FOR 5 MINS!!!!"
What makes Regeneration One crazier in hindsight is that, while they obviously can’t be mentioned for legal reasons, Megatron ended up slaughtering the marvel superheroes and Godzilla in their universe
I thought the same thing as well, The Avengers, Xmen, even The Hulk killed by him.
Thanos: I have eliminated half of the universe with a mere snap of my fingers.
Megatron while standing in front of Godzilla's corpse: This is bad comedy. (blasts Thanos's head off)
What?!??
Where was that mentioned?
@@dinoguy163 since spiderman and shield were in the original issues when the comics was just a miniseries
I'm not sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, Megatron's one of my favorite villains. On the other hand, how could the Marvel heroes drop the ball so hard?!
Starscream: "This is unicorn! The war would is now a part of me!"
6:54 Ah yes, the debut of the first ever Megatank.
Overlord was not amused.
I would absolutely watch a Transformers show with the tagline “Robots in DisGUUUUUUUNS!!”
Which one ?
90's Dude would love a show where the *sewing machine* is also a transformer.
TARGETMASTERS.
Transformers who turn into bullets!
@@BaronSengir1008 Fired by other transformers that turn into guns!!
25:30 Damn, Optimus looks like his neck’s going to split from his body and become a bunch of tendrils for his head to walk on.
The Creation Matrix: "I was the All-Spark before it was cool"
hi
*when it was cool
13:33 the audacity in his voice as he says Cliffjumper is the reason i just subscribed
They actually did the "This ain't your daddy's X" that everyone makes fun of?
Is this comic where that meme comes from?
@@tf2godz The line is older than this comic. "This is not your fathers Oldsmobile" was a tag line in the 80s. Earliest I know of.
@@rbourne35 I'd guess it dates farther back than that, probably to the 60s.
Me: well, that retrospective was really nice
Me: *sees he's also covering the Generation 2 comic*
Me: OH GOD
he covered it as a seperate review years ago
@@daemosblack yeah but that was only one issue now he's doing all 12.
I think Hasbro knew at this point that they would be indeed forced into a new age, that's why they held off on it until the Beast Wars. Why I love the franchise, lives up to it's namesake and does away with timescaling, instead adapting to the new era in new, unique ways as Bludgeon's existence kinda showed that they anticipated a speculator boom in the USA.
Linkara finally getting Trailbreaker's name right is infinitely superior character development to Jhiaxus just getting pissier as to the comic goes on.
Kind of surprised Linkara didn't make any mention of the weird tongues some of the Transformers were sporting in a couple of panels.
He'll probably mention the tounges (among other art-fails) either at after he finishes recapping Gen-2, or at the end of the 3rd part.
About Jhiaxus being functionally identical to Megatron, that's kinda the point of the character.
He considers himself this superior being who has abandoned the Autobot/decepticon context, but ultimately he is just another tyrant wanting to control the universe or whatever. This is reflected in him continuously losing his sanity as the series progresses and dropping the façade.
Jhiaxus was like the rich president who tried to erase his past but the links to his shady past came back to haunt him
It's like Grayson creed who thought he was better than all.mutants but come to find out his parents was mutants
Jhiaxus remembered he was a deception or he was created by a process by deceptions he knew who prime, and Megatron. Was before he met them surely he heard stories about them from leige maximo
If I recall there was an early UK story where Starscream did try to betray Megatron and this sparked a rivalry with the more loyal Ravage. And even then, that was just the once.
I have to admit, Linkara fiddling with a toy he's owned since a kid and then making a wooshing sound resonates with me. Mostly because I am exactly the kind of person who still does that...
*makes pewpew noises with SIxshot*
...big mood
*digs out Sixshot too*
How many modes could you transform him into without the instructions?
I got Wingwolf... somehow.
@@muhaoai4693 None actually. I couldn't figure out you had to separate the legs to fold them out and didn't want to risk breaking a $70-ish toy by forcing it too much.
...Naturally my care was undone by moving his arm too far and snapping off a chest wing. I fixed it, but in the moment I was panicking.
8:25 Wait, that review was almost 10 YEARS AGO!?
* thinks some more *
Holy crap, I’ve been watching your videos for more than 10 years.
Welcome to the old people club. We do not have name tags or t shirts.
“Death to the Pretenders!”
Stranglehold: “Excuse me?!”
I can't even begin to tell you how much I totally ship Megatron and Starscream as a begrudgingly affectionate couple when none of the other Decepticons ate around. And I for one can totally see Megatron, Brokeback Mountain-style, turning to Starscream and saying, "Why can't I quit you?" Before giving Starscream a one armed hug and a noggie. XD
I'm surprised the idw verse didn't pick up in that
20:02 It's hilarious that Starscream said "crankier".
As soon as I heard "Biggles" I thought it would make for a great joke about Biggles and the Menace from Space given the Transformers are from space, and I was so happy when Linkara said it.
I went directly to Monty Python reference first, out of habit.
@@mightyfilm Si, senor Biggles.
Grimlock is Furman's favourite character, and it REALLY shows in this series with how many times he's promoted and everything
Furman should have gave grimlock more victories cause grimlock always got his azz kicked in the comics
I'm glad that you touched on 84 and Secrets and Lies even if briefly. I was expecting a brief nod at the end of the retrospective at most just to show that Furman and IDW still revisit the old Marvel continuity from time to time, much like you did with Cassandra Cain's Rebirth stories at the end of that retrospective. And yeah that issue with Optimus seems very out of character but I enjoy it for the look back at Man of Iron and for finally doing something interesting with Punch/Counterpunch.
People always say that Starscream main thing is his treachery. Yet, not many people mention how often he turns himself into a abomination. Seriously, I think it's easier to count the versions that did not go full eldritch horror or undead.
Funny enough versions like Starscream's Prime continuity, he faced against Zombies without becoming one
He really didn’t become one in transformers animated, though he did make a half of dozen clones of himself, each with a main aspect of his personality: his cowardness, his huge ass ego, being a suck up, being a huge liar, and his feminine side.
@@brandonlyon730 With he did after being revived with a piece of the Allspark. So, undead.
My favorite Starscream Horror Monster is that time he fused with an Angel from Neon Genesis Evangeleon
You’re essentially right.
- Died and became a ghost, then made a deal with Unicron to get his body back,
- Got a taste of godlike power and slaughtered hundreds of Transformers,
- Tried possessing the Matrix and becoming quote-unquote: “A living weapon,” only to give it up when it realize it was turning him good,
- That same godlike power from before manifesting his body and becoming an embodiment of 4 ancient dudes,
- Traveling to the future as a ghost and possessing a robot that turns into a comic-relief wasp,
- Growing to colossal size and literally fighting god,
- His corpse being reanimated by a shard of the ultimate life force, thus granting him immortality,
- Trying to steal Megatron’s ability to raise the dead, Then two seasons later convincing a scientist to mix the voodoo with a synthetic formula to create vampire zombies,
- Capturing a group of midgets to give himself godlike power,
And probably most damning of all…
- Turning into a goddamn Quintesson and being able to erase beings from existence.
I like that while Linkara accidentally called Hound "Huffer", he got the names right for characters who share molds and designs like Bumblebee and cliff jumper and Starscream, thundercracker, and Skywarp
It's honestly a weird case of me somehow seeing his name wrong - like maybe I spotted his name said elsewhere on the TFWiki page for the issue and somehow replaced Hound's name instead of what was actually on the page. Otherwise I TRIED to get the names correct whenever possible.
well considering the Transformer brand itself has trouble with names like Rumble and Frenzy or "Devastator" in the 2007 Transformers movie.
It's always quaint to remember a time when Transformers wasn't nearly as popular as G.I. Joe. Now, Transformers is such a staple, the only Hasbro properties you mostly see are that and My Little Pony. I've just only recently started seeing G.I. Joe merch again.
"What is it about this continuity that makes most Transformers crash on it instead of landing safely?"
It started out as a flaw in their training exercise, but then it just became tradition. Now they just do it because it's what they've always done.
I feel sorry for you, you having to see the *90s* all over again.
Oh well, at least this era gave us the immortal "because I'm an idiot" exchange. I also appreciated Furman's humor with 'gee axe us'. Clever.
18:07 That energy, the Swarm, apparently went on to evolve into the distinctly far more enlightened Vok from Beast Wars in the 3H and 2006 IDW Beast Wars comics (borrowing from Larry DiTillio's plan to explain who the Vok were). Somehow.
4:00 MMMM that's good fourth wall break
"I'm not gonna mince words: Generation 2 Sucks." There's the Linkara we know.
Yeeeeeep, and we have missed him.
I always hoped they gave Megatron an actual reason as to why he keeps trusting Starscream. Something like "he keeps me on my toes", or "the day he sucessfully overthrows, would be the day that would demostrate I'm no longer fit to lead the Decepticons".
But no. He's just an idiot.
The Aligned continuity explained it very well in the episode Rock Bottom.
Canadian authorities not noticing things going on in their own backyard seems to be a thing in comics. It was in the pages of The Incredible Hulk that an entire underground city built by the Soviets went unnoticed.
Honestly, I always prefer Megatron's alternate mode to be a tank instead of a gun. It's just more practical.
Same
It's Transformers. But now it's
THE 90S!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I'M SKULL SKWISHER!!!!!! RIP AND TEAR!!!!!!!
ah yes, Liege Maximo, the Loki of the transformers universe and later made into one of the 13 Primes created by Primus.
Honestly I wouldn't really call the Liege Maximo the Loki of Transformers before the Aligned continuity.
@@ycastro2003 true, but his Loki design has become so attached to him you can't help but call him that.
Believe lm did not remind me of Loki back.in 94
He reminded me of horde prime off shera
@@ShanaReviews yea leige maximo in idw became shockwaves pawn the 13 was all pawns of shockwave Megatronus, solys, and prima learned the hard way
Damn, I was really, really hoping to hear Linkara talk about Star Saber and Deathsaurus of all characters. Ah, well.
Same here,
Particularly about overlord.
I proudly own a Masterpiece Star Saber as one of the few non-War for Cybertron Trilogy TFs in my collection, and the only Masterpiece toy I’m willing to shill out the amount demanded for this high-end line, because of how much I like that character. Was so happy that TF84 introduced him and his nemesis into the Marvel continuity.
@@myriadmediamusings For me Star Saber is the one thing Furman did better than Roberts, and yeah his MP toy is great and is a good Generations stand-in until we get Gen Star Saber. If that ever happens.
I am concerned though, Star Saber's basically the only one of that Autobot three-way leadership thing who we don't know what happens to, so knowing Furman he probably dies at the hands of Bludgeon or something.
hmm, are the incarnations you're thinking of the ones that butcher the beloved characters or okay? I heard that the IDW starsaber is a great disservice to the character who in the original setting was basically a damn Brave before the Brave series
@@Xeno-The-Wanderer Like I say the IDW one is worse, but MTMTE as a whole is much better.
For crying out loud that Optimus cover looks like he should be on an Austrian Death Machine album cover.
Funny that this retrospective would end on April Fools, Ohh spoiler alert 'I hope you lot can see through the lie' Linkara will review Beast Wars the TV series during early Summer.
Mad respect to the endlessly suffering mechanic that is Megatron. The dude is not only dealing with endless political awfulness, but apparently has the technical skills to rebuild both Transformers and starships. Imagine the months or years of hard labor that man does every time he has to rebuild something. Honestly, you kinda feel bad for him losing all the time. He's the hardest working man on Cybertron. Megatron puts his energon, antifreeze and tears into everything he does and works tirelessly at the most menial of tasks because he must for his cause.
THAT'S why I remember the CG spinning from the show as a kid and then got super confused it wasn't on the videos/dvd's of the series when I got them!
13:23-13:26
After correcting Linkara on his mistake, I in consequence encouraged him to make a running gag. I welcome it.
Interestingly, a few of Generation 2's ideas were originally planned to be followed up on in Beast Wars. Some of Larry DiTillo and Bob Forward's original ideas for season three were for the Vok aliens that seeded Earth with energon to be descended from a repentant Swarm, and Tarantulas was supposed to be descendant of from Jhiaxus's Cybertronian Empire.
I think it was confirmed that the swarm from this comic became the vok from beast wars
Considering this came out on April Fools, I was half-expecting this to pull a gotcha and be a review of like IDW's Go-Bots series or something like that.
Scowling 90’s Starscream is ridiculous and I love him for it.
Well there is another reason Megatron keeps bringing Starscream back. He makes great christmas cookies.
Stars cream is Megatron's personal whore
I am loving this. Now i really want a Linkara review of the IDW run or at least MTMT/Lost Light
Compounding your Steven Universe Future joke, Jhiaxis and his faction are pretty much the Homeworld Gems. So, I guess that means the Autobots on Earth are the Crystal Gems, and Spike is Steven (being a Power Master and all).
I have that one you held! Or the White and Red one at least... I was really blown away at the articulation of this series of figures considering up till then the all the lil guys were very awkward in their robot mode.
"The way that they were born makes them less..."
OH BOY, LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE LATER IDW COMICS!
I...actually thought “I’m an idiot” was you being snarky only to look at the screen and realizing that it’s [actual Generation 2 dialogue]...just wow 😂
Finally a video that isn't an April Fools joke...
Should we tell him about Fun Publications’ “Classics” comics!
I’d honestly love to see him react to the Invasion and Another Light storylines!
Can I please ask what happened in them?
Thing is, those comics kinda get fused with the shattered glass stuff... Plus, those comics don't have scans or collected editions anywhere as far as I know 😅
@@master5gamingandotherstuff490 to me the best comics i have from Fun publications is the beast wars comic prequel and the stunticon job as i felt the prequel felt like a pilot and stunticon job felt like a idea for TFA season 4
I'd love to see his reaction to Beast Wars Uprising
@@master5gamingandotherstuff490 3 years late but shockingly enough? They do have scans. Thanks to the efforts of TFWiki and just other fans, you can basically read those stories. The struggle is that... well... they were never really a comic series in the traditional sense. They were stories published in Transformers Timelines and in Transformers Club mags so Classics kind of just got spread out.
"The fate of the fleshlings means nothing to me. Nothing! So why can't I resist this so-called 'Christmas Spirit'?"
*Shrugs* I don't know. That Christmas comic was all I could think of when he said that line. As if it wasn't The Matrix making him do good, but actually that it just so happens to be Christmas on Earth and he's permanently affected by the spirit of the season after his first encounter with it.
And in my next randomly timed praise of Transformers Prime, they all had the guns built in while being their hands or arm cannons or whatnot. Point, Prime.
I hope one day he does idw More than meets the eye and lost light,
Just want see his opion on my favourite transformers comic run.
Seriously doubt he'll ever do a retrospective on that, since he only does so for comics that have special relevance to himself. That said, he is a fan of Transformers; so I wouldn't put it past him to review anything from the IDW2005 continuity. Heck, it's entirely likely that somebody will patreon him to review something from that line-up. That and I wouldn't be surprised if he does a review of that Arcee Spotlight.
"Hang on to your dreams, Liam. The future is built on dreams. Hang on."
-Optimus Prime
Is it me or megatron really just likes starcream so much that he just enjoys his constant failing as a leader.
Screamer amuses Megatron
Why kill him when you can.beat and humiliate him
@@chrisedwards3214 lol i guess that makes sense.
Beast Wars actually makes the crashing make sense. The high concentrations of raw energon on earth in its prehistoric days would have wreaked havoc on their ships, which would have caused the crashes.
I wish the Vok were explained and what the heck was their big "experiment" or something.
I feel like Generation 2 has gotten something of a bit more appreciation as of late, at least when it comes to the toyline because of the alt colors or some designs. Laser Optimus Prime remains to be one of my favorite designs of the character, especially when it was reused for Scourge of Robots in Disguise 2001. Your comic review of the first issue of G2 years back was where I first learned of that series so Im eager to see it played out now that we all know the story of the first Marvel run.
As for Regeneration One, this’ll also be interesting. I tend to hear a lot of flack or negativity upon this series, with a lot saying that Transformers 84 is the better of the IDW continuations of the Marvel Comics story.
I was expecting this to be another lamp review today, but maybe thats for later.
I have to say the "where have I been" goof was too funny.
7:36 I mean by IDW logic, all they had to do was replace his transformation cog. The whole Figure Alteration System thing is exclusive to the UK comic anyway.
I'm sort of surprised Transformers: XTREME wasn't a thing in the 90's... also please, PLEASE tell me I'm wrong, I need the skateboard Transformer with the backwards cap and a toothpick that's actually a lazer beam. Incidentally at 21:30 I imagined Megatron wearing a blonde wig yelling, "But I love him!"
Wait? I thought these were the Transformers that transformed into....... LAMPS?!
23:34 SWEET MOTHER OF PRIMUS STARSCREAM! NEVER MAKE THAT EXPRESSION AGAIN!
Oh cool! I forgot you were doing these too. I was in London on free coming book day 2012 at the launch of the comic and got to meet Furman and wild man and got them to sign old comics!
I really liked the some elements of the crazy art of the g2 comic. That artist went on to do sone cool stuff
Someone’s probably said it already, but Megatron getting Anti-matter powers was a reference to IDW Megs getting similar abilities. Don’t know why they brought it here, but that’s what’s up.
nope. its a reference to the time he used it in the UK comic when he fought prime and ultra magnus. megs has always had the ability , its in his bio, its just never been used in the US comic for some reason. they even use the same weird effect from his eyes that they used back then. roberts was a reader back then and used it in his run. TBH i think it was meant to be a "ying/yang" thing. primes got the creation matrix , which originally was just a program in his head, and megs has his anti matter powers. one creates, the other destroys.
It's a reference to Megatron's original bio saying he somehow teleports antimatter from a black hole to supercharge his cannon, but the excerpt for the toy box left out the part about it going into the cannon, so the UK writers thought he just emitted raw antimatter from his body.
Takara was pushing a new transformer line in 1989 based on their Victory series. This had some great toys like Star Saber, Black Scorpinox, Victory Leo, and Deathasaurus. Legend had it that Takara approached Hasbro with this toy line, but Hasbro said, "no thanks, we are going with the Action Master line" Imagine if they brought the Victory toys to the states........
If that’s true that’s a damn shame. We woulda gotten cool toys and characters like that, but no we got freakin Action Masters.
Oh, quick correction, Black Scorpinox was the year before, but I mean Liokaiser and Landcross were great combiners from Victory!
I find it kinda funny how G2 Sideswipe's design has kind of a cult following that he actually got a retool of his Masterpiece figure in that design.
"...where have I been..." I should not laugh that hars to a joke...and yet. XD
Coming back to this review after the April 2022 announcement of a new Jihaxus toy coming via the Transformers Legacy toyline. This review actually gave me a new appreciation for the character and you can bet I pre-ordered him. Interestingly, this upcoming Legacy toy is only the third version of the character to be released, is the first one to be accurate to his original look, and is the first version to be entirely original and not be a redeco/retool.
3:22 Ah yes, ball joints, I just bought a Cyberverse Grimlock and his legs keep popping off while I tried to transform him into T-Rex mode. Honestly the transformation is needlessly difficult (does not help that the instructions are not packed in so you have to go to the support website but they were too vague so I found a review of it instead), I had an easier time with my Cybertron Optimus toy and that thing is HUGE! (Sadly some of the parts are now missing and I don't know where it even is). Also that fire sword... "Me Grimlock like to much translucent Cheetos!"
25:21 One of my favorite lines that never stops being funny.
The Transformers Generation 2 redo of the 80s cartoon was how I was introduced to Transformers.
Same here, I became a giant robot fan afterwards.
I'd love to see the idea of Megatron turning into a gun get reworked in a future series at some point, Being a Transformer who turns to a weapon that can only be used by other Transformers and yet he's a lead of their people seems interesting, specially in some continuities they play around with the idea of Decepticons s being slaves or build for war. A master would want his slave to turn into his weapon.
@@AlexSeverinski Well I had in mind for a gun would be a transformer that turns into a shoulder mounted blaster that attaches to the back of the another transformer. They already make a transformer toy like this, I seen them do something like this in the latest show,
Wow, this is as much of a fresh start as Black and White was for the Pokemon anime.
I'm starting to realize that Michel Bay may have been taking notes from Generation 2 and the 90s lmao.
Biggles Jones is Allison Preggler's new favorite Baywatch Nights character, isn't he??
As for why so many Transformers crash their ships on Earth, well they were here first and used it as the legal right to drop all their junk on our planet.
I am disappointed that this didn’t mention when Starscream is being corrupted you the Matrix he says “Optimus, help me! I don’t want to be good!”
That would have been a great line to hear him whine in Chris Latta's voice.
23:39 So since Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot are there dose that mean the skeleton in between them is or at least was Joel?
Funny thing with Generation 2, my first ever Transformers figure was G2 Slag, the one that was colored green, gold, & red. I don't know what happened to it, most likely either broken or carted off to a thrift store, but that was where my interest in Trasformers started. I was lucky enough to have re-runs of the show play on local channels, and was often sad that toys of the characters I really liked weren't available anymore. I did once ask for Power Master Optimus Prime for Christmas, but it was outside my parents' budget.
I feel like he’s making a point about mixing up characters XD
22:25 To be fair, it was probably a Pretender who said that. Which just makes it hilarious.
7:21 “Simon Furman lied as easily as he breathed.”
"No backgrounds."
So, they're just robots in da skies?
I feel like the relationship between this and the G1 comics is similar to the relationship between Tenchi in Tokyo and Tenchi Universe. They start out with the characters in a similar situation to how they were at the end of the previous series so it seems like a sequel, but then it turns out that it actually isn't.
At least the series wasn't drawn by Rob Liefeld. Or would that have been an improvement?
I know you said this went on longer than you wanted, but man this was a great retrospective! Thanks!
6:28 Whoa. I remember that issue! It was screwed up.
13:47 Ironhide? I thought that was Hound.
Linkara, I like how your brief 'begin credits' scene theme music is AT4W theme music. :)
Seeing the quality of the scans honestly just makes me wish that at some point or another the G2 comics would just get a proper reprinting. I mean sure, they are BAD comics and stuff that at this point has been ignored in this continuity... but they were still old-school Marvel Comics and considering that at this point we have the entire old-series and most of the UK issues available in glorious modern printing, it'd just be nice to have this to complete everything.
No the Hachette books technically don't count. They're fantastic as far as having an efficient way to read all the comics is concerned but from what I can tell they never had a proper digital which really is what would be great to have.
23:21 I swear I've heard those same lines in a Rom-Com. Megatron x Starscream is looking more and more canon.
As a late 90s early 2000s kid, I remember megatron as a tank and was confused to find out he was gun later on. Its now good to know my older brothers gi joe toys are the explanation for that ratial change