#torq iii

[transformersslutt]

Watching Transformers G1 Part 645

I don't like that it has that face specifically

[transformers-mosaic]

Transformers: Mosaic #374 - "Secret Origin"

Originally posted on April 29th, 2009

Story - Franco Villa Art - Waseem Bashar

deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005 | BotTalk

wada sez: Hahaha, this is the second Mosaic strip to basically exist solely to insert Circuit Breaker into some unrelated modern continuity where she’ll totally go on to do big and important things. The last panel here is absolutely chock full of similarly-inserted characters, which I’ve identified in the tags. On deviantART, Villa offhandedly came up with justification for why Shockwave might be on Earth, why the robot-hating Meltdown would be helping create a cyborg, and why Powell would even care, saying: “About Shockwave, I'd say he has a secret agenda: he's acting more than the G1 Marvel guy than the G1 cartoon one. Not so loyal to Megatron, he plans to remove Destronium from Earth because... well, it could be TOO useful to Megatron? Meltdown is a mercenary, in this piece, and owes Powell for something (maybe Powell got him out of prison... temporarily). Powell wants the Autobots destroyed, but doesn't want to be involved: so he builds a pawn that will destroy the Autobots for him. These are just lazy ideas... do they work? :)” No. Villa also explained the strip’s position in continuity: “this Mosaic *should* take place during Season 2, before Blurr revealed himself to the Autobots. I think it could work, because Shockwave never shows his "Longarm Prime modes", here...” How does this tie into yesterday’s strip? Well, you’ll find out in tomorrow’s! Unlettered art and Italian version below.

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector Prime, what are your overall thoughts on human-made robots? For example, Getter Robo and the Mobile Suits.

Dear Robo-Revolutionary,

Though your science may only be in its infancy, humans are an ingenious species—quick-witted, adaptable, and able to make great engineering leaps in short periods of time. I find it unfair to judge human-made robots as a whole—after all, there are worlds of technological and cultural differences between rudimentary machine intelligences, artificially-engineered Transformer lifeforms, and advanced synthetic humans. I have met many friendly robots who originated as human creations, and indeed many great Autobot heroes owe their existence to human intervention.

I suppose I might say that, as a culture, the blurred lines between “tools” and people” troubles me. There are those realities where simple human-made robots play a key role in human society like those barely-sentient automatons manufactured by the Sumdac Corporation or the prototype labor-saving devices so abundant on Griffin Rock. But an effort to build a smarter tool can become slavery in all but name; when I look into the history of the OG world and see humanity’s indifference to the plight of their Selector robots, I cannot help but see humanity repeating old mistakes falling into the old traps of arrogance and privilege.

More troubling still are those machines built for war, especially those built to wage war against my own species. The TORQ IIIs, the Skynets, the Centurions, the Stingers, the Nightbirds, the Seeker clones, formidable weapons all. The existence of such beings chills me to the Spark, and not just because of their sheer destructive potential. These are mechanoids stripped of emotions, warmth, everything that makes a Cybertronian more than a simple automaton, all replaced with cold directives and programs. Some might see the error of their ways; most, however, they remain eerie mockeries of our own mechanical form, our worst fears of how other species might view us made manifest… ah, but perhaps these are philosophical musings for another time.

[dyemooch]

Gregg Berger print and two sketches of Harpy Gee characters at Disney.