Transformers: Beast Wars - Second Chances - Page 4
Originally posted on February 2nd, 2011
Story - Mike Priest
Art - Jeffrey Witty
Colours - Jenny Son
Letters - HdE
deviantART
wada sez: This was originally meant to be Page 5, with some of the later Waspinator stuff moved earlier. As envisioned by Mike Priest, all of the pages for the comic would have individual titles, but only he seemed to like this idea and none of them made it into the final product. He gave this page the title “Eternal Too”, a reference to the fact that this entire story is an expansion of his previous Mosaic one-shot, “Eternal”. See below for the original script and an early sketch by Witty, along with Mike’s “Writer Spotlight”.
Beast Wars: Second Chances- Page 5
“Eternal Too”
By Mike Priest
-
(FIRST PANEL- Depthcharge’s hand slaps down on wet sand; he’s just pulled himself from the ocean.)
(SECOND PANEL- A full side-view of Depthcharge, on his hands and knees crawling from the surf- wet, caked with dirt, seaweed hanging from parts of his body…we cannot see his chest.)
DEPTHCHARGE:
G-geh…
(THIRD PANEL- Close-up of Depthcharge’s head, looking down at the sand, in confusion.)
DEPTHCHARGE:
Huh…how? I-I…thought…
(FOURTH PANEL- Depthcharge whirls and looks behind him in a panic, having heard a voice. We still can’t see the front of his chest.)
RAMPAGE:
(Dialogue bubble unlinked, border color differs)
Well…THIS is certainly interesting.
DEPTHCHARGE:
(Enraged)
X! WHERE ARE YOU??
(FIFTH PANEL- Depthcharge, horrified expression as he looks down at himself. We see the pulsing glow of a spark from below off-panel.)
RAMPAGE:
Where I’ve always been…
DEPTHCHARGE:
(Small text)
no…
(FINAL PANEL- Unveiling of Depthcharge’s chest- it is torn open enough for us to see a SECOND spark (smaller; it’s only a half) somehow messily “fused” onto Depthcharge’s larger spark, like some cancerous lump.)
RAMPAGE:
…a touch more literally now, it would seem. AHAHAHAH!
Ah, Beast Wars. For me, it's a case of "third time's the charm!"
Y'see, Beast Wars was Transformers' third coming for me. And once it hit, I was snared for life. As a wee lad, I was a fan of G1, from about the age of three 'til the age of seven or eight. Oh, there was the Real Ghostbusters and Spidey and His Amazing Friends and whatnot here and there. But Transformers was always the fallback, always something I could go back to when I lost interest with whatever the new fad was on the playground.
Around 1991 or 1992, while there were still some Transformers toys on the shelves, I was growing more enamored with Ninja Turtles and Marvel Superheroes, and Transformers was largely on the backburner, possibly for good this time.
But my growing love of comic books would bring me to Transformers yet again. One fateful day in 1993, on a routine trip to the comic store with my older cousin, I saw it on the shelf.
Transformers Generation 2 # 1. Everyone can remember that cover -- Optimus Prime with bullets jutting out of his skull and faceplate and the tag "This is NOT your father's Autobot."
I eagerly snatched it up and for the next twelve months, going to the comic store became a regular occurrence. I loved Spider-Man and X-Men and Iron Man, but Transformers Generation 2 was the comic I HAD to have every month.
You can imagine my disappointment when I discovered the book had been canceled after only twelve issues. Without supporting fiction to give my toy "adventures" some measure of credibility, my interest waned as it had before, and Transformers once again only became a fond memory.
Fast-forward to 1996. My younger cousins tell me of an awesome "computer-graphics" show airing in the morning called Beast Wars. "It's animals that transform into robots!", they tell me. I chuckle, inwardly wondering if it is some rip-off of Transformers. A few weeks pass and I catch an episode. "The Web", it is titled, but what shocks me most is the "Transformers" subtitle underneath the prominent Beast Wars logo. It isn't a rip-off, it IS Transformers!
Of course, as a bitter, world-weary twelve-year old at this point, my initial reaction is "Turning into organic-looking animals? Huh, dumb". This doesn't stop me from watching the show on weekday mornings before going to school, rationalizing that "nothing else is on".
Then suddenly, about midway through the first season of Beast Wars, I realize I'm not watching it because "nothing else is on" anymore, I'm watching it because it IS Transformers and it is AWESOME! Before I knew it, I was hooked again! And this time would be for good. Never again would something push Transformers to second or even third-banana status with me. I was a Transfan through and through and I owed it to Beast Wars for reminding me.
To me, Beast Wars represents some of the very best Transformers storytelling has to offer and is unequivocally the best Transformers animated series of all time (so far). I jumped at any chances to contribute to the Beast Wars universe in anyway, through fanfiction, through Transformers Mosaic, and now, through BEAST WARS: Second Chances.
It's funny. We're calling it "Second Chances". But for me, Beast Wars was a THIRD chance. And like I said before, third time's the charm!
-- Mike Priest
Transformers: Beast Wars - Second Chances - Page 10
Originally posted on February 2nd, 2011
Story - Mike Priest
Art - Jeffrey Witty
Colours - Jenny Son
Letters - HdE
deviantART
wada sez: Priest gave this page the individual title “Out of the Cold”; you can read his script below. In case you were wondering where all these drones have come from, a later comment from the project explained: “Although never explicitly stated, many of the stasis pods likely became Tarantulas's drone army.”
Beast Wars: Second Chances- Page 10
“Out of the Cold”
By Mike Priest
-
(FIRST PANEL- Depthcharge walking along a path carved into the side of a mountain.)
RAMPAGE:
(Unlinked dialogue bubble)
This is just too delicious, really.
DEPTHCHARGE:
(Text box)
Shut up.
RAMPAGE:
(Unlinked bubble)
What? You aren’t having as much fun as I am?
DEPTHCHARGE:
(Text box)
Shut up.
RAMPAGE:
(Unlinked bubble)
Come now, I know you have a much more colorful vocabulary than th--
(SECOND PANEL: Depthcharge lashes out wildly at the side of the mountain with one fist, leaving a deep imprint in the rock. He’s clearly a bit unhinged.)
DEPTHCHARGE:
SHUT UP!
RAMPAGE:
(Unlinked bubble)
Well, well. What have we there?
(THIRD PANEL: Depthcharge looks across the sky and sees Waspinator in wasp mode flying by in a hurry.)
RAMPAGE:
(Unlinked bubble)
Ah yes. Another playmate. Going to say hello?
WASPINATOR:
Waszzpinator muszzt get help, muszzt get --
(FIFTH PANEL: Depthcharge in manta-jet mode pulls up alongside of a flustered Waspinator. Waspinator’s eyes go comically-wide as he tries to right himself.)
WASPINATOR:
Aigh! Fishie-bot??
DEPTHCHARGE:
And where are you off to in such a hurry, screw-loose?
(SIXTH PANEL: Waspinator points with one of his insect legs to the ground below and behind him. Depthcharge’s own optics follow.)
WASPINATOR:
Szzpider-bot will deszztroy everything! Getting help! Reinforcementszz! Fishie-bot come too!
DEPTHCHARGE:
What the…?
(SEVENTH PANEL: From Depthcharge and Waspinator’s position in the air, we can see dozens of “Steel Tech” Tarantulas drones, all in “cycle” mode, tearing through a valley below.)
RAMPAGE:
(Caption)
Ha, no rest for the weary, old friend.
Transformers: Beast Wars - Second Chances - Page 11
Originally posted on February 2nd, 2011
Story - Shaun Flaherty
Art - Jeffrey Witty
Colours - Jenny Son
Letters - HdE
deviantART
wada sez: Peep below for the original script.
PAGE ELEVEN (six panels)
Panel 1. A close-up of Depth Charge’s (robot mode) face. He is dumbfounded by what we see in Panel 2.
Note:
Although Rampage’s “healing factor” has helped Depth Charge to pull himself back together, he should still appear battle damaged until he logs some time in a creation/restoration chamber.
Panel 2. Waspinator (robot mode) presents his “reinforcements”, Inferno (robot mode) and Quickstrike (robot mode). The two Predacons are off-line, but Waspinator has reassembled them with mud, sticks, vines, etc.; he is surprised that Depth Charge is not as impressed as he is.
DINOBOT II (OP):
Tarantulas installed a C/R tank aboard the Nemesis --
Panel 3. Dinobot II (robot mode) walks toward us.
Reference:
Dinobot II (Seibertron)
Dinobot II (TFWiki)
DINOBOT II:
-- its wreckage is not far.
DINOBOT II (continued):
If you hurry, you may make it back in time.
Panel 4. Depth Charge points his weapon right in Dinobot II’s face.
DEPTH CHARGE/RAMPAGE (thought):
Just do it.
DEPTH CHARGE/RAMPAGE (thought):
Blow ‘im away.
DEPTH CHARGE:
And why should I trust you?
DINOBOT II:
It does not appear that you have much of a choice.
DEPTH CHARGE/RAMPAGE (thought):
You know you want to!
DEPTH CHARGE/RAMPAGE (thought):
I do.
DEPTH CHARGE:
Shut up!
Panel 5. A close-up of Dinobot II’s face. He means what he says.
DINOBOT II:
I give you my word of honor.
DINOBOT II (continued):
Tarantulas will not reach his objective.
Panel 6. In the foreground, we see the back of Dinobot II’s head; he looks upward, toward Depth Charge. In the background, Depth Charge (vehicle mode) flies away from us, carrying Inferno and Quickstrike.
Story - Tony Jackson
Pencils, Colours - Jenny Son
Inks, Letters - HdE
deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005 | BotTalk
wada sez: For whatever reason, this strip is the first of a set of three Animated strips skipped from Seibertron’s archive, so they don’t have numbers. “Girlie men” was an infamous phrase used by Arnold Schwarzenegger in his political rhetoric, used here to fit hothead!Blitzwing’s voice. Clean inks below.
