Inspired by @thewadapan's call to action in his concluding essay for the @transformers-mosaic archival project, here's an original Mosaic-style strip! Hope you enjoy, and check after the break for commentary!
The secret origin of this comic is that on the last day of TFNation 2024, my pal and longtime TFN roomie Wadapan dropped a concluding essay for his project archiving the entirety of the Transformers: Mosaic short-form fan-comic project. Sunday night goes pretty late at TFN, and gone midnight, many rum'n'cokes deep, I wound up reading Wads' words on my phone in bed while he was brushing his teeth a few metres away.
At the end of the article, he called upon the reader to create their own one-page comic, and inspiration genuinely wound up striking me there in bed! I successfully remembered the idea in the morning, wrote a script on my notes app on the train home, and then scrawled a tiny thumbnail layout for the comic on a post-it when I got home. I then... let five months get away from me. But now I've deployed my (foolish) vector illustration platform of choice, Microsoft PowerPoint, and made the damn thing!
Some director's commentary:
So obviously the big influences here are Budiansky’s take on Headmastering, The Rebirth’s partnering of Arcee and Daniel, and IDW1 Arcee’s story (and swords). I figure it takes place in a unique continuity amalgamating elements of all three.
The Budiansky Headmaster material is all about “wouldn’t it be fucked up if a human had to take on the role of a robot and fight in the robot war?”, really focusing on the humans literally having to be their partners. Since Marvel is largely Just Blokes though, that never extends to anyone having to embody a robot with a different gender presentation, while the cartoon has Arcee and Daniel partnered, but doesn’t really touch on the psychology of Headmastering at all. So take “what if Arcee and Daniel partnered under Marvel rules?”, add Arcee’s transness from modern fiction, and your get Danielle realising something about herself!
The phrasing “from the diary of” is, I think, probably inspired by the “From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker” tagline used on the earliest Star Wars novels – I had a beat-up old copy of the SW77 novelisation from a car-boot sale as a kid that I loved.
The shapes in the first three panels are largely drawn as polygons, while Danielle is drawn mostly using smooth curves!
Here’s the incredibly rough post-it note thumbnail I drew last year:
wada sez: Check out Jala's behind-the-scenes commentary above! Just to stress, I had literally no involvement in the content of this page; this is the rare comic that's entirely the work of one person. I love how, despite post-dating Transformers: Mosaic by about a decade, this really feels like exactly the kind of story those same fans would be making if IDW's Phase Two comics had been yet published. I also love the way that, on a metatextual level, it engages with the Transformers as aspirational figures for children; this was always the very reason why the Witwickys were present in classic media as audience surrogates. It's also cute how the use of quotation marks in the narration boxes—an unusual stylistic choice—turns out to be diegetic, teeing up this final reveal with the citation. Although, that does put me in an awkward position with this comic's tags... hmm! Hopefully I'll be able to share more new comics like this here in the future. If you have an idea for a comic, there's really no excuse not to make it a reality—because lest any of ye doubt: no, they really did draw this in PowerPoint:
wada sez: With this strip, after over two years of daily updates, the Transformers: Mosaic archive is now complete. I’ve taken the time to write up my feelings on this endeavour as a whole, which you can find in my post on the TFWiki community blog.
Story - Logan Rogan
Script, Colours, Letters - wadapan
Art - Andy Short
deviantART
wada sez: This is it, folks, we’re almost at the end: tomorrow will be the last post on the archive! But as for this strip—writer Logan Rogan clearly had a soft spot for Dreadwind and Darkwing, as for BotCon 2009, he self-published a full-length comic starring the characters: “Limelight: Dreadwind”. This one-page strip, however, was seemingly never completed; I found the finished lineart over on Andy Short’s deviantART, and hoped to track down the original script—but sadly, Short seems to have left the Transformers community, per his inactivity over on TFW2005, while Logan Rogan simply did not reply to my @ on twitter. Without a script to go off, I decided to try and reverse-engineer what the story in the comic might’ve been like, writing my own dialogue to suit the artwork. Keep reading for a full process breakdown.
From the character designs, it’s obvious that this strip is set in IDW continuity; Dreadwind and Darkwing appeared as part of a Decepticon infiltration unit on the planet Nebulos in Stormbringer (identifiable as the setting of this strip by the architecture of the alien city). They had a fairly minor role in the story, with the Nebulos scenes mostly serving to set the stakes for what Thunderwing might do to Cybertron. Darkwing seems to be the leader of the gang; he orders a token resistance against the monster to satisfy Megatron, planning to flee the moment things get rough.
They’re last seen in issue #3, seemingly having escaped—but in the artwork in this strip, Dreadwind is in a crater for some reason. There’s not a moment in the canonical events where this could’ve taken place, so they must’ve had one last run-in with Thunderwing as he was leaving.
I sketched out the rough shape of the script on my phone while doing some shopping. Here’s what I wrote:
Panel 1
DREADWIND: He’s coming BACK to finish us off.
DREADWIND (CONT’D): You know, I used to ADMIRE that guy. When the war was at its peak, he was like, “We are going to DESTROY this planet.” And he was so SURE of it. He literally turned himself into a MONSTER so HE could be the one to do it.
DREADWIND (CONT’D) : When you think about it, he was the ULTIMATE PESSIMIST.
Panel 2
DARKWING: He’s GONE back to Cybertron. RAZORCLAW is preparing to fight him.
DREADWIND: They’ll lose.
DARKWING: Megatron DOESN’T LOSE.
Panel 3
DARKWING: Look, we did it! Forget about phases 1-5, ol’ Thunderwing just took us straight to phase six. Mission accomplished.
Panel 4
DREADWIND: Megatron will see right through us, you know that? We FAILED to stop Thunderwing, and worse than that, we hardly even TRIED. Face it, we were never going to die to aliens or Autobots. It was always going to be our own team, breaking us down for scrap. That’s all we’re good for.
Panel 5
DARKWING: Right. Well are you gonna get up, or-
DREADWIND: -I’m up, I’m up.
Panel 6
DREADWIND: I bet all the good stuff got incinerated.
DARKWING: You never change, do you? EVER THE PESSIMIST.
My only requirement with the script was that I wanted to incorporate the title directly into the story, because I always liked it when Mosaic strips did that.
So yeah, fairly close to what I ended up with, I just tightened it up in a few places as I was getting it on the page. In Stormbringer itself, Dreadwind barely gets a speaking line; in fact, at one point I considered making Dreadwind near-silent, with most of the script just being Dreadwind’s inner monologue. You can imagine how this might’ve worked:
DREADWIND (NARRATION): He’s coming back to finish us off.
DARKWING: Looks like he’s gone back to Cybertron. They’re going to fight him.
DREADWIND (NARRATION): They’ll lose.
I liked the idea of Darkwing kind of reading his brother’s mind, while Dreadwind is so lost in his own sullenness that he’s constantly coming up with new worse-case scenarios in his head. In the end, I felt like the comic itself didn’t support the interpretation of Dreadwind as a particularly introspective character. In particular, Dreadwind later shows up (and dies) under Mike Costa’s pen, and during that appearance, he’s very talkative!
In the end, I tried to pitch the tone of the dialogue at exactly the halfway point between Simon Furman’s style in Stormbringer, and James Roberts’ style in More than Meets the Eye. The colouring style was also intended to fall halfway between Josh Burcham’s work on the former and Joana Lafuente’s work on the latter. This is because Skullcruncher, another member of the Nebulos infiltration unit, later reappeared as a stand-up comedian in More than Meets the Eye issue #45. I liked the idea that the rest of his infiltration crew are More than Meets the Eye characters by extension, if that makes any sense.
For the lettering, I simply referenced Robbie Robbins’ work on the original comic, using those rounded-rectangle speech bubbles with little nicks in the corners. I also looked to the original comic for inspiration for the colours, though obviously I can’t remotely compete with Burcham’s work. I spent a lot of time building up the atmosphere of the flames. In the final panel, there’s a dismembered arm, which I decided to identify as belonging to Ruckus by colouring it purple. To the Jack Lawrence reading this, sorry not sorry!
I wanted to do a character study of Dreadwind by taking his pessimism seriously, drawing a parallel between him and Thunderwing. Much of Stormbringer has an oddly straightforward environmentalist bent, and I wanted to inject some of my own cynicism regarding the future.
In the first panel, I wanted Dreadwind to say “he actually did it the absolute madlad”, but it just didn’t feel right for him to use the word “lad”, it would’ve been too human in that moment.
I liked the idea that, from Darkwing’s perspective, they kind of end up in a best-case scenario: they survive Thunderwing, and he practically does their job for them, cutting short what could’ve been years of boring subterfuge. Of course, Dreadwind would never see it that way!
The irony of the story, as I’ve scripted it, is something that would’ve been impossible for the story to account for as originally written in 2007—namely, although Dreadwind is mostly wrong in his predictions (Thunderwing is really gone, Megatron is really going to win, the Decepticons seemingly won’t care about anything that happened on Nebulos), he’s right in the worst way: both Darkwing and Dreadwind really will end up being ripped apart by their fellow Decepticons and used for spare parts, and it will be personal.
On another level, I think I wanted to inject a little bit of my own mixed feelings towards the Mosaic archive as a whole. Like, in the context of this project, I’m just a talker—people like Rogan, and Short, and all the others, they were doers. But now’s not quite the time to get into it. If you check back tomorrow, I’ll have much more to say on the experience of curating this archive. See you then...
Story - Matthew Simon Hessey
Script, Colours, Letters - wadapan
Art - Jeffrey Witty
Edits - Mary Canada
deviantART
wada sez: Jeffrey Witty had shared his art process for this one on deviantART, but for whatever reason, the strip was never colored or lettered. I got in touch with Jeffrey to see if he could provide me the original script—and as it happened, he still had it! The story was clearly inspired by Simon Furman’s work on the Transformers: Movie Prequel comic series from IDW, but I felt like Hessey’s script itself did little more than recap the events we already know from that comic and from the film itself. As a huge fan of the first live-action movie with strong opinions on Megatron’s character, seeing as I’d be spending so much time coloring and lettering the strip, I decided I wanted to write my own version of the strip. I know that’s very cheeky of me, but after two years of working on this archive, I felt like I could have a little bit of archival misconduct as a treat. Of course, I’ve also lettered up Matthew’s original script, so you can read that version below as well and compare for yourself—which do you prefer? And after that, stay tuned for a full process breakdown and a much more in-depth commentary on the choices I made!
PANEL 1:
(MEGATRON IS FALLING THROUGH THE ICE, SIMILAR PICTURE TO THE ONE OF HIM FALLING THROUGH THE ICE IN THE MOVIE PREQUEL COMIC)
TEXT BOX (GREY): I am Megatron, leader of The Decepticons. I arrived on this pitiful planet in search of the Allspark millennia ago, but was denied at the last possible moment.
Megatron: No! Not when I was so close!
PANEL 2:
(MEGATRON IS IN THE WATER, REACHING FOR THE HOLE IN THE ICE DESPERATELY)
TEXT BOX (GREY): Upon my landing, the ground collapsed beneath my feet and I plunged into the icy cold liquid below, causing most of my primary systems to shut down. Leaving me only able to watch and wait as I was entombed.
PANEL 3:
(CLOSE UP OF THE GLASSES LYING IN THE ICE WITH THE ALLSPARK SYMBOLS ON IT)
TEXT BOX (GREY): That is, until I was discovered by a biological entity. Using one of my last remaining vestiges of power, I burnt the location of the Allspark onto the creature’s visual enhancement pieces.
PANEL 4:
(HOOVER DAM IN THE BACKGROUND WITH A TRUCK AND A TRAILER LARGE ENOUGH TO CONTAIN MEGATRON DRIVING UP TO IT)
TEXT BOX (GREY): I was moved between laboratories as these ‘humans’ experimented on me to allow their own pitiful understanding of technology to advance. But, eventually I came to be stored in a place known as ‘The Hoover Dam’.
PANEL 5:
(PICTURE OF THE ALLSPARK IN HOOVER DAM)
TEXT BOX (GREY): It was here that for the first time in millennia I felt the call of the Allspark, it was so close that I could almost smell it, touch it even. Yet I was powerless to do anything about it.
PANEL 6:
(CLOSE UP ON MEGATRON’S FACE, WITH BRIGHT RED GLOWING EYES)
TEXT BOX (GREY): But now, I feel my power slowly, but steadily, returning to me. Soon I will be free. Soon I will have the Allspark. And soon I shall have my revenge.
wada sez:
Whew, it’s so refreshing to step outside the confines of my usual single-paragraph commentary! This was a labour of love for me, inspired by Terry van Feleday’s singular opus of cinematic analysis, “I actually kind of appreciate the Transformers movies.” The essay on the first movie, towards its end, veers into straightup fanfiction, providing a very interesting interpretation of Megatron’s inner thoughts during his cryogenic sleep. I’ve mirrored the segment in question at the very end of this post; hopefully you can see how it formed the basis for my script.
The central conceit of van Feleday’s reading is that the cry of “I am Megatron!”, spoken in plain English, is actually addressed to the humans, a declaration of self-actualization following decades of callous dissection. In my script, I incorporate Hessey’s title into the strip diegetically, as one of many radio transmissions overheard by Megatron during his imprisonment. I wanted to gather all the epithets I could think of from the movie and its ancillary material, to build up a picture of how the humans view this impossible creature. I actually started out with way more, and pared it back because I felt it was cluttering the artwork too much!
It felt important to me to lean into the horror of Megatron’s paralysis, and to express that horror in a uniquely mechanical way. I also wanted to stay true to what I viewed as the core emotion of Hessey’s script—namely, the feeling of being so close to accomplishing a goal, yet being utterly powerless to do so.
The film implies that the AllSpark’s coordinates being seared onto Archibald Witwicky’s glasses is something that happens unconsciously, but Terry van Feleday instead interprets it as a deliberate attempt at communication on Megatron’s part.
I liked the idea of portraying this relationship between Megatron and the scientists, where they are unknowingly creating this horrific impression of human nature. With that interpretation in mind, Megatron’s characterisation after awakening in the film reads less menacingly, and honestly much more favourable towards the human characters such as Sam. I think that’s the real power of transformative works, to recontextualise an existing story and allow you to view it through a new lens.
In the final panel, I had to cheat a little with the script; obviously, the intention is that Megatron is frozen, which is why we have this extreme closeup; the omission of his mouth literally depicts him as a mute. I wanted to recontextualize the panel as being the exact moment where he’s breaking free, speaking for the first time on this planet. I hope you found it effective.
As for the colours... the first thing I wanted to point out was that Jeffrey appears to have inadvertently horizontally squished his art while inking it! Still, this was the highest-resolution version of the art, so I just rolled with it. So if you noticed that the cube in particular is very malproportioned, well, now you know why!
I deliberately used very different tones between the left and the right columns, to help guide the reader’s eye down the page first; the lettering also straddles the panels to help in this respect. I do like Jeffrey’s composition, using the full height of the page to create this feeling of falling. The second panel in particular is very simple and effective, definitely the best in the piece.
In the first panel, I initially gave Megatron much cooler hues, but I revised it once I realised it was supposed to be referencing a specific sequence from the prequel comic, where Megatron’s armor is given a white-hot glow from re-entry; it’s this which melts the ice beneath his feet.
Anyway, here’s the extract from Terry van Feleday’s essay...
Imagine you just had the worst day of your life.
Well, it wasn’t really a day. Hours and days have no meaning for you. You have lived far too long to follow such microscopic temporal distinctions. You built an empire, and lived to see it dying. What can a day matter? A year?
How about a thousand?
Your planet was dying. Your species was dying. What can a king do, when his children are dying because there is nothing to eat? You knew the answer: The Allspark. You hung onto that fairy tale even as your followers declared it absurd, taking off immediately, all alone, as soon as there was a sign of it. No delays; Without the Allspark, everything you ever knew and loved would slowly wither away and die. And all you needed to do was move to a completely insignificant planet it found itself drawn to and pick it up. You would be more than a leader, you would be a hero, a savior. There would be no more need for war, no more fear of death and hunger, and no more dying younglings.
And then everything went wrong.
The moment still constantly plays before your eyes. You break into the planet’s atmosphere, and it nearly destroys your sensors. That vivid feeling of total disorientation, the hard, sudden impact, and the cold darkness that closed around you as the cavern froze around your unmoving body. You weren’t ready to die. You thought back to your planet, your people – you still had to save them. Had to. What would they do without you? The people saw their leader off, promising them to bring back utopia. Knowing you wouldn’t return would shatter their morale completely.
The years start piling on. You try to move, try to melt the ice, try to do anything, but the world only seems to become colder around you. Ten years. Fifty years. Five hundred years. Unable to move, with only your own thoughts and worries to give you company. Your mind can’t take it, and your sanity falls apart. Everything you thought and wished for slowly shatters into pieces, leaving only hate and chaos behind. Eight hundred years. Thousand years. After a while, you simply stop counting.
Then you hear a crash from the ceiling.
Through your delusional fever dreams, you aren’t sure if it is real or not, or what is truly happening. A tiny creature descends upon you, clearly primitive, shouting in rough, poorly-coordinated language, but perhaps not too dissimilar to you. You failed to bring the cube to your people – but maybe, maybe there is some slight chance that he can. So you tell him where he can find it, the only way you can right now. You rest a bit more easy. Perhaps it is time to rest after all.
But, more small creatures start filling your cavern. They begin chopping away at the ice that binds you, clumsily, but surely. They want to free you. For the first time in millennia, you feel just that little bit more warm - finally you will be able to return, to not be a useless statue, but the great hero you were destined to be. Your silent cheer fills your own head as the humans, as they call themselves, with great difficulty, raise you out of the cavern and put you onto a transport.
They seem bewildered with you. Curious. A little too curious, perhaps. As grateful as you are, you have a mission to attend to, and they will only get in the way. You are defrosted enough to stand up.
Panicked shouting erupts among the small ones. It seems they hadn’t expected you to still be alive. You notice too late the all-too-familiar cold creeping up your body, and suddenly you cannot move again. They froze you!
Burning rage fills your heart. What do they think they’re doing!? They lock you underground again, and, to your horror, begin to force parts of your body open, dissecting you alive.
You start picking up on their language, and slowly begin to understand what they’re saying. They’re just using you to expand their technology. These primitive insects have attached themselves to you like filthy parasites, using your suffering to create for themselves more meaningless conveniences. You should be their god. You wanted to save your own kind, but instead, you are treated like a chunk of garbage. And as a final injustice, the insult to the injury, they did not even treat you to a proper name.
Needless to say, as soon as you are free, someone will pay.
Story - Shaun Flaherty
Art - Michal Solarz
Colours, Letters - wadapan
deviantART
wada sez: I found the clean lineart and original script for this strip chilling on Shaun Flaherty’s deviantART, and figured I may as well finish the job. This is another straightforward story, starring Quickstrike after he joins the Predacons in “Coming of the Fuzors”. The monster he runs into is itself a fusion of Terrorsaur and Scorponok, who fell into the lava inside the Predacon headquarters during the quantum surge, and were last seen Transmetallizing... Rather than drawing inspiration from their toyline-only Transmetal forms, Solarz has drawn a horrific monster with all the organic material burned away. For the coloring, I went for a heavily gradient-based approach to crudely evoke the CGI rendering of the cartoon. I decided to color the Terrorsaur/Scorponok fusion as white-hot metal, rather than bringing in any tones specific to those characters; this was as much a shortcut as it was a storytelling choice, honestly. I’m pretty pleased with how the lava effect came out, I’ve never done something like that before! Finally, I took the opportunity to switch out the fonts from the dialogue, and to add a title to the first panel, using fonts that recall the actual opening title credits from the cartoon. As Quickstrike’s original toy has a lot of sentimental value for me, I was really glad to be able to bring this strip to life. If I’m being honest, though, I find the writing a little strange—in the show, Quickstrike is a very talkative villain, but here he’s a meek and silent victim. Weird choice. The artist has also pushed the Beast Wars characters towards a much more robotic style, with things like Quickstrike having a separate conduit connecting his cobra head to his torso, and Megatron’s bladed weapon appearing as a grabber claw. This second change in particular is notable because the original script actually calls for Megatron to stab the monster, not shoot it! You can read that below, and see the original art.
CAP:
"Welcome to the Darksyde, Fuzor.
CAP:
"Try not to get lost."
Panel 2. Over Quickstrike's shoulder, we see a pool of lava. In one spot, the lava burbles.
NO DIALOGUE
Panel 3. A grotesque, Transmetal amalgamation of Scorponok and Terrorsaur bursts from the lava toward us. It breaches the panel borders as if it is leaping out of the page to attack us.
NO DIALOGUE
Panel 4. Toward the left side of the panel, Quickstrike steps back defensively; his "hands" shield his face. He is just out of reach of Scorponok/Terrorsaur's claw. Toward the right side of the panel, we discover that Megatron has driven his whiplash cutlass through Scorponok/Terrorsaur's mangled torso, preventing its attack.
NO DIALOGUE
Panel 5. A close-up of Megatron. He looks down at Quickstrike, smirking.
MEGATRON:
I believe you belong to me now.
Panel 6. A close-up of Quickstrike. He looks up at Megatron, meekly.
SFX/QUICKSTRIKE:
gulp
MEGATRON (OP):
Yes...
Story - Daniel Bartlett
Art - Charger426
Letters - wadapan
deviantART
wada sez: Wait, what? The one who lettered this strip was... me?! That’s right dorks, I’m no longer satisfied with copying and pasting material from elsewhere on the internet. I’m dragging these Mosaic strips kicking and screaming across the finish line for your viewing pleasure, even if it means I have to crack out the Blambot fonts and the autoshapes. So I’m thrilled to say that this particular strip is seeing the light of day for the very first time! I’d come across a “sneak peek” on Charger426′s deviantART, which looked for all the world like finished inks to me. I reached out to him, and to my delight, it turned out that he not only had the original script, but that he’d coincidentally started coloring the piece at long last, using some gorgeous traditional marker work. I offered to handle the lettering; inspired by the title, I looked at graphics associated with hot rods to select an italics font and add a flame effect. I ended up slightly repositioning the final panel to make room to incorporate the title directly into the narration. Obviously the story here is pretty nonspecific and straightforward, but I’m 99% sure it’s intended to be set in IDW continuity, as the script goes out of its way to specify the green/white narration boxes—something famously seen in Spotlight: Kup. I ummed and ahhed over putting the Mosaic logo on this strip, ultimately swaying towards just writing “The Transformers”, as most of IDW’s stories were branded. See below for Daniel’s original script and Charger426′s full process breakdown!
Panel 1:
Kup in a crouched fighting stance, back to a wall
Text box: (Green w/ White writing for all) I’ve been at this for more stellar-cycles then I can remember
Panel 2: (Inset into Panel 1)
Split picture of Optimus Prime and Springer’s faces
Text box: I’ve had some solid trainees, and those who have gone Above and Beyond.
Panel 3, 4, & 5: (Inset into Panel 1)
(3) Hot Rods face, (4) Sideswipes face, (5) Sunstreaker’s face
Text Box: These three Need some work; Ones reckless, ones stubborn, and ones arrogant.
Panel 6:
Kup facing Hot Rod, Sideswipe, and Sunstreaker as they Zero in to finish him off
Text Box: They’re nothing but a bunch of Turbo Revving Punks…
Panel 7:
Hot Rod holding his head on the ground in a knocked down position, Sunstreaker looking at Kup from the ground (as he walks away) and Sideswipe laid out.
Story, Art - Mitsuko Hazama
Letters - Franco Villa
Edits - Zac DeBoard
deviantART
wada sez: I’ll leave it to Hazama to explain this one, per the deviantART notes: “Transformers: Masterforce means very much to me. Last year was the year Masterforce is said to take place, 2012, and this is the year of Victory. I drew this comic in the summer of last year to celebrate this fact, and to pay a tribute to the series because it does mean so much to me. In particular, always I have looked to Ginrai for inspiration. Ginrai did not choose to become a hero, did not choose to gain the Masterforce. It simply chose him, and what makes him so strong is how he accepted it, even though that was so difficult to do. He struggled with it, and tried to deny that fate, but in the end, he learned that all people needed him to rise, and he needed himself to accept his destiny. Even if you aren't familiar with the series, I hope that you may also draw inspiration from Ginrai, because he is truly the definition of what makes a hero. PS. Although it bears the "Mosaic" name, and was accepted, it never actually got posted before the project closed. Bummer. :shrug:”
wada sez: This strip was originally conceived for Mosaic and teased under the initials "CGA", but wasn't finished before the project shuttered. Nonetheless, Gee later completed the strip and posted it! Here, we learn the grim fate of Dispensor, an AllSpark mutation from the climax of the first live-action film.
wada sez: We’re back to more familiar territory with Ghela’s other unpublished strip, as he adapts a scene from The Transformers: The Movie (there involving Daniel Witwicky and Hot Rod) for the live-action film continuity. It’s unusual to see Bumblebee so verbose, but this is set in-continuity with Ghela’s other strips following up on the first live-action movie, disregarding the sequels.
wada sez: The “Crown of Cybertron” appears to be an artefact invented for this story. On deviantART, Ghela explained: “End of all things was my idea for something I've never seen in a TF comic. Originally meant for TF mosaic before it closed, I wanted to do an A3 spread but had to limit the concept, hence, while I am pleased with it, I wanted it to be "bigger".” A few months later, he released a piece of art in a similar vein, mirrored below, which he explained as follows: “In this world, the Transformers and humankind are nomads that have abandoned their planets some 3,000 years ago. Two friends [now] journey back to see what became of the Earth and Cybertron. They were not prepared for what they found…”
wada sez: This is kind of an “in name only” Mosaic strip, but Sam Palmer had made a few contributions to the project proper. He explained the genesis of the strip on deviantART: “Here is the mosaic I created for the Auto Assembly 2011 Transformers Convention mosaic competition. As the judges were James Roberts and Nick Roche, the theme was obviously Wreckers, so I decided to write this story, about a post-LSOTW Impactor. In a rare move for me, I decided to draw it too (I'm a trained and qualified Animator, so drawing is a strength, but I've ALWAYS had problems drawing Transformers) but here it all clicked, so look out for more TF drawings and comics from me soon. Now, this may or may not be a prize-winning piece, as the creative competition entries haven't been judged yet, but my fingers are firmly crossed.” I actually have no idea if this entry won, and was unable to find any other entries!
Later revised and annotated for Transformers: The Lost Seasons
wada sez: This strip wasn't exactly created as a Mosaic, but Nangle did submit it to the project; as he'd already shared it online by that point, they rejected it. It was later picked up by The Lost Seasons for their project. For me, that’s all close enough to warrant its inclusion in the archive. Nangle had this to say: “Heh, did this at work when there was nothing to do except play with illustrator and photoshop. The idea came about when my sister asked me "where are the Dinobots?" when Optimus Prime was dying (from the animated movie).” Grimlock seems to have been drawn with heavy reference to the toy, rather than his appearance in the movie itself.
wada sez: So this strip came as something of a surprise to me! I had a single preview sketch for it from the Mosaic page way back in the first month of the project (see below). I was curious about this preview, but that was the only sign of it on the internet. At least, that was, until our Gherkin slid into my DMs with the finished strip! He’d acquired it in remarkable circumstances. Apparently, way back in 2010, he had downloaded a PDF for a Transmasters UK fanzine from “ScotCon 2009″, a small Scotland meetup... and right at the back, there it was! There’s no indication of the strip’s history with Mosaic in the zine itself; maybe it just took Turnbull ages to finish it? Strangely, the PDF presents the strip as the raw art (at tiny resolution, also see below) superimposed with proper text in the file. Anyway, this is obviously a crossover with Doctor Who, starring David Tennant’s incarnation of the character. The fire truck in the first panel seems like it could’ve been drawn with reference to G1 Inferno. I think the H’rud has been invented for this strip?
Transformers: Mosaic - Fragments
Josh van Reyk & Shaun Knowler
wada sez: The Mosaic project was a monumental undertaking from Josh van Reyk and Shaun Knowler. Their dedication to creating a platform for amateur fan creators, and to producing high-quality stories, eventually led to them writing an official, canonical Transformers comic in the form of Spotlight: Jazz; this post collects various promotional material for that issue, and a pseudocanonical followup Mosaic script that never materialised. But Spotlight: Jazz wasn't the only story they pitched to IDW...
Art by Matt C. Adams [2009-01-26, 2009-01-26, 2009-03-31, 2009-03-31]
Art by Joana Lafuente [2009-02-08]
Art by Chris Vera [2009-03-22, 2009-03-31, 2009-04-01, 2010-03-02, 2010-03-02]
Art by Casey Coller & John-Paul Bove [2009-03-25, 2009-03-30]
wada sez: This lineart from Coller was originally colored up by Matt C. Adams, as seen at the very top of this post, but John-Paul Bove also did his own version!
Spotlight: Ravage w/ Matt C. Adams [2009-11-27, 2009-11-27, 2009-11-27, 2009-11-30, 2010-01-02, 2010-01-02]
wada sez: Colors on that A cover were provided by Andrew Griffith.
Matt sez: "At Botcon '09 this past summer, my good friend Josh van Reyk and I pitched a story idea to some of the good folks from IDW Publishing as a possible issue of their Transformers Spotlight series. Unfortunately they had to turn us down on "Spotlight Ravage." But it wasn't because the story sucked. It turns out they already had a similar book planned, only this one would focus on the Movie Universe version of Ravage and was being written by the one and only Simon Furman. And in a strange coincidental twist, not only did his book, the soon to be released Transformers: Tales of the Fallen #5, feature (a version of) Ravage too, but it also had the exact same "hook" that our story had. And by "hook" I mean something that makes the book (fairly) unique and interesting for comic book fans. I won't say what that hook is, but if you take into account the fact that this cover is an homage to Larry Hama's classic G.I. Joe #21, a comic famous for being the first to have the very same hook, then you can probably guess what that hook is. ;)"
wada sez: The issue in question was Tales of the Fallen issue #5.
Matt sez: "Well, here's a part of the story I left out…
"After hearing why they were passing on the pitch, I was bold enough (or perhaps delusional enough ;) ) to ask one of editors if he knew if all the cover assignments for the Movie Ravage issue had been given out. He said they had, but there was still the possibility of a retailer incentive cover being produced. I then asked that if I was to take the same "silent issue" GI Joe homage idea and redo my Ravage cover so that it featured Movie Ravage, would he be interested in seeing it. He said yes. Fast forward a month or so and I get a response on the new cover I sent in. Unfortunately that response was also a "No." Bummer, right?
"But here's something that's not a bummer. Even though this cover won't see print, my good friend John-Paul Bove was kind enough to take my humble inks and turn them into something that is pretty damn awesome, in my (biased) opinion. :)"
"Making The Myth" (Jazz) w/ Ed Pirrie [2011-01-09]
Ed sez: "If I remember correctly, "Making the Myth" was co-authored by Josh and Shaun. It was definitely after SL:J was published. I don't know if you remember, but that issue got a bit of backlash by people who couldn't accept that Jazz might be able to solo the Predacons. This came out of me chatting with them about that, because I loved the issue, and how sad it was that people couldn't accept that an Autobot with the function "special ops" would actually be good at combat, especially against enemies that immediately underestimate him. I guess it's possible that those talks led to the idea for a Mosaic where he essentially explains why he was so good in a humble way, but honestly it's been so long I couldn't say for sure."
wada sez: The sole surviving snippet from Ed's art for this strip was, he believes, the fourth panel; I've included it at that point in the script.
Panel 1
We're looking down a corridor, as TRACKS chases
after JAZZ. We're looking at the bots from front
on. JAZZ looks over his shoulder as TRACKS yells
out at him.
TRACKS
Excuse me, sir!
JAZZ
Mm?
JAZZ (CONT)
Oh. It's Tracks, isn't it?
Panel 2
TRACKS has caught up to JAZZ now, and the two stand
opposite one another. TRACKS should look a little
awkward.
TRACKS
Yeah, that's right, Sir.
JAZZ
Good. What's on your mind?
TRACKS (CONT)
I, uh, I just wanted to say thanks.
JAZZ (CONT)
For?
TRACKS (CONT)
For saving my Spark, Sir.* I know it was you.
JAZZ (CONT)
You do, do you?
CAPTION
*see Spotlight: Jazz
Panel 3
Close in on TRACKS, looking away slightly.
TRACKS
Yeah, um, Bluestreak told me.
Panel 4
Close in on JAZZ, smiling, but not surprised.
JAZZ
Ah, good 'ole Blue. That bot sure does love to
gossip.
JAZZ
But listen, kid. There's a reason why I made
Ironhide promise not to tell you who I am. It's
cause you weren't saved by me alone.
Panel 5
JAZZ puts his hand on TRACKS' shoulder, who perks
up a bit.
TRACKS
I don't understand, Sir.
JAZZ
I know you don't, and that's okay. I've been
fighting this war for a long time, and I've
fought alongside a lot of different bots.
JAZZ (CONT)
I've learned something new from every single one
of them-- and they all helped me get you outta
trouble.
JAZZ (CONT)
That's what I want you to remember, okay?
That's how I want you to live.
TRACKS
Ah, I will, Sir. I'll make you proud, Sir.
JAZZ (CONT)
I know you will, kid.
JAZZ
Oh, and one more thing…
Panel 6
Close in on JAZZ, cheeky smile.
JAZZ
…don't call me sir.
"The W Team" w/ Ed Pirrie
wada sez: I actually don't have any sort of link or source for this one, because I snatched the preview from Pirrie's deviantART shortly before the took the whole thing down! Still, he was kind enough to provide me with the full script for it. The whole thing is an homage to The A-Team, naturally.
Panel 1
KUP, SPRINGER, ROADBUSTER& WHIRL, all in
electro-cuffs stand in the center of a large
courtroom. Prowl is seated behind the 'judges'
chair and is pointing an acussing finger at the
group.
TEXT BOX
Ten stellar-cycles ago, a crack commando unit
was sent to prison by a military court for a
crime they didn't commit.
Panel 2
The outside wall of an Autobot prison explodes and
KUP, SPRINGER, ROADBUSTER & WHIRL all rush out,
guns blazing!
TEXT BOX
These bots promptly escaped from a maximum
security stockade to the Iacon underground.
Panel 3 KUP, SPRINGER, WHIRL and ROADBUSTER are bustin
Decepticon heads in MACADAM's bar.
TEXT BOX
Today, still wanted by the government, they
survive as soldiers of fortune.
Panel 4
A group of micro-masters are surrounder STARSCREAM,
THUNDERCRACKER and SKYWARP, all riding motorcycles.
TEXT BOX
If you have a problem…
Panel 5
Elita-1, Arcee and the other fmebots, all beaten,
are inside a local police station. Siren, Slapdash
and Nightbeat are behind a counter, not interested
in the girls problems.
TEXT BOX
…if no one else can help you…
Panel 6
Red Alert, on crutches, is in a dark alley. He is
handing a small vid-screen to Kup, who is hiding in
the shadows.
TEXT BOX
…and if you can find them, maybe you can
hire…
Panel 7
Hero shot of KUP, SPRINGER, WHIRL and ROADBUSTER,
similar to http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images
/7/2010/01/the-a-team.jpg NOTE. KUP must have a
cigar.
TEXT BOX
…the Wreckers!
wada sez: That link above is dead, but the image in question was probably similar to this one:
Ed sez: "The cygar as a panel I don't [think] they asked for. It was an interstitial I added on a whim, to kind of pause the flow before the final panel. Not that any of that matters any more!"
wada sez: That's a wrap on all these lost scripts! Thank you for indulging me this last week. We're still not quite done, though—tomorrow, we'll be going back to actual comics that you can look at with your eyes!
wada sez: Shane A. Hopkins wrote two comics for Mosaic, "Coming Storm" and "Archaeological Anomaly". However, he wrote far more scripts than just those! Most of these he shared at the very end of 2010, but he came back on April 28th, 2012 with a few more.
"Arcee In Wonderland" [2010-12-31]
Shane sez: "Okay, so I thought for my first devs of 2011 I would present you with some scripts for Transformers Mosaic that never made it to being drawn and colored despite my trying… This first one features G1 Arcee and a host of cameos. It was inspired, obviously, by the story of Alice in Wonderland, and was prompted after I saw the Disney film of the same name directed by Tim Burton"
Author Note: All transformers are classic Generation One versions.
PANEL 1:
SCENE: Arcee falling through blackness.
ARCEE: Where am I?
ARCEE: What's going on?
PANEL 2:
SCENE: Arcee is now standing in a meadow, only it's all metallic. A chibi version of Blurr is speeding past her.
BLURR: I'mlate!I'mlateforaveryimportantdate!
ARCEE: ?
PANEL 3:
SCENE: We see Arcee turning to her left, and near her Wreck-Gar sitting on top of a giant metallic mushroom.
WRECK-GAR: Listen, one side of this mushroom will make you grow... Another will make you shrink...
PANEL 4:
SCENE: Arcee is stumbling through a forest and comes across a table with a tea party laid out on it, on the other side of the table sits Wheeljack wearing a Mad Hatter's top hat.
WHEELJACK: More Energon my dear?
PANEL 5:
SCENE: Arcee is now in a fancy metallic garden, at one end is a throne, on that sits Grimlock, with a crown on his head, tilted slightly to his left, to his left and right are some Sharkticons.
GRIMLOCK (pointing at Arcee): Off with head!
PANEL 6:
SCENE: Arcee, presumably running from the Sharkticons comes across Rumble and Frenzy in the forest, they each have an arm round the shoulder of the other.
RUMBLE: Beware my dear...
FRENZY: When a cat brings it's smile to bear.
PANEL 7:
SCENE: Razorclaw, in lion mode, jumps down from a tree in front of Arcee, he has a huge grin on his face.
RAZORCLAW: It does not matter where you run...
PANEL 8:
SCENE: Arcee is strapped to a table, on her head is a contraption like a VR unit, hooked up to a computer bank. Around her are three Quintessons
QUINTESSON 1: She is giving in to her delusion...
QUINTESSON 2: Then begin the conditioning...
QUINTESSON 3: And begin the downfall of the Transformers...
PANEL 9 (Full width panel):
SCENE: Same as PANEL 8 only a wider angle
QUINTESSONS: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
"The Last Autobot On Earth" [2010-12-31]
Shane sez: "This one features Marvel G1 Spike and Fortress Maximus. Not certain what inspired this one, I think too much cheese…"
NOTES: This goes straight into the story, the titles and credits at the bottom of the page, the title being in fact the last words of dialog.
PANEL 1: (Full width panel – 1/3 the height of the page) Downtown, some random city with tall buildings and rushing people (as in all are blurry no features can be made out) In the center of the frame we see G1 Marvel comics style Spike Witwicky standing, center frame, his head bowed slightly
SPIKE (subtitles, break into as many speech bubbles as needed): They don't understand. They go about their daily lives, not knowing that the war still rages out there in the deserted areas of this planet. They just don't see it.
PANEL 2: (Half width – 1/3 the height of the page) Same background, but Spike's still in the center of the page so we see only half his face, only now Spike is looking straight out of the page at the reader
SPIKE (subtitles): They could never understand the burden of being a Binary Bonded human being…
PANEL 3: (Half width – 1/3 the height of the page) We see a snow covered landscape behind Fortress Maximus' face, think of it like the other half of Spike from PANEL 2
FORTRESS MAXIMUS (subtitles): The burden of being the only Headmaster left on the planet.
PANEL 4: (Full width panel – 1/3 the height of the page) The Fortress Maximus equivalent of PANEL 1, the background is the same one we saw part of in PANEL 3. In the foreground we see Fortress Maximus looking out at the reader, a crazed and damaged Galvatron leaping towards Fort Max from behind.
FORTRESS MAXIMUS (subtitles): The weight of responsibility that rests upon the shoulders of THE LAST AUTOBOT ON EARTH.
"Rise Of The Beasts" [2010-12-31]
wada sez: No, not that one.
Shane sez: "This one features the Battle Beasts (aka Beastformers) and a cameo by IDW Jhiaxus. I was inspired for this one when I found the only surviving Battle Beast I had, Rubberneck Giraffe (sans weapon sadly) I also found Hardtop Tortiose but he's missing an arm (he's 'armless! :lmao:)"
PANEL 1:
SCENE: A shot of space filled with stars and nebulas etc. On the right is a planet, orbiting an orange sun (as opposed to Earth's yellow sun).
NARRATOR: It is the Earth year 2000...
NARRATOR: On the planet Beast the population is undergoing a change...
PANEL 2:
SCENE: We see three humanoid animals, a lion, a stag and a tiger. The tiger and stag are fitting what looks like armour to the lion.
NARRATOR: The inhabitants are dividing into three factions, those supporting Fire...
PANEL 3:
SCENE: We see another three humanoid animals, a dog, a turtle and a snake, the dog and snake are fitting armour to the turtle.
NARRATOR: Those supporting Water...
PANEL 4:
SCENE: Yet another three humanoid animals, a warthog, a cow and a beaver, the beaver and cow are fitting armour to the warthog.
NARRATOR: And those supporting Wood...
PANEL 5:
SCENE: Now we see the lion, turtle and warthog fighting each other
NARRATOR: Those three factions are locked in a violent civil war...
NARRATOR: The outcome of which could have ramifications elsewhere in the universe...
PANEL 6:
SCENE: Same scene as PANEL 6 only now it's quite obviously a computer monitor/screen.
JHIAXUS: Yes...
PANEL 7:
SCENE: Head and shoulders shot of IDW style Jhiaxus.
JHIAXUS: They are progressing well, soon our new army will be ready...
"Mad Scientist Territory" [2010-12-31]
Shane sez: "This one features the mad scientists of the Autobots, Wheeljack and Ratchet, as well as Ultra Magnus and Verity Carlo (obviously this is set in the IDWverse. It also introduces the Japanese character of Grand, the headmaster portion of Grand Maximus.) This one I blame on too many IDW comics and the Japanese Masterforce series…"
PANEL 1:
SCENE: Black, the internal console of an offline Transformer. Scrolling up the screen is a series of computer boot up code, saying things like "loading friend or foe protocols" and "initializing audio input" etc. Mentions of Verity Carlo, Ultra Magnus, Ratchet and Wheeljack
VERITY CARLO: This is crazy Magnus! I mean combining Megatron's mass displacement capabilities, The Machination's… What did you call it? Transtector tech? Scorponok's Headmaster tech, and Bludgeon and Jetfire's pretender tech? You're heading into mad scientist territory here!
ULTRA MAGNUS: Verity, as much as I appreciate your company, don't you have something better to do?
VERITY CARLO: Hmm… Nope.
PANEL 2:
SCENE: Same as PANEL 1 only the text is different, this time recording what's being said.
ULTRA MAGNUS: Ratchet, how's our volunteer doing?
PANEL 3:
SCENE: Same as PANEL 1 but the text is now saying things like "loading memory drives" and "engaging optic sensors" in between what's been said
RATCHET: As near as we can determine, Grand is doing fine, his internal memory systems are booting up…
PANEL 4:
SCENE: we see a heavily pixelated shot of Ratchet and Wheeljack leaning over the camera POV
WHEELJACK: And it looks like his optic systems are coming online too.
PANEL 5:
SCENE: A less pixelated version of PANEL 4
RATCHET: I'm still worried about the core processor interface, it's a little… Glitchy…
PANEL 6:
SCENE: Crisp version of PANELS 4 and 5
WHEELJACK: Don't worry, Grand's a strong bot, he is from the same Protoform Plant as Fortress Maximus, just a later generation…
PANEL 7:
SCENE: A shot of Grand (who looks like Cerebros only red and blue) sitting up on a table between Ratchet and Wheeljack, see the back and side of Magnus' head
RATCHET: We went with a verbal release command for the Pretender Shell, to engage or disengage it simply give the command 'Pretender'
PANEL 8:
SCENE: Similar shot to PANEL 7, only this time Grand's Pretender shell is flowing over him and he's shrinking
GRAND: Like… PRETENDER!
ULTRA MAGNUS: Good, and now, lets go get you acquainted with your Transtector, Maximus…
"Alliance" [2010-12-31]
Shane sez: "This one features the heads of F.L.A.G., G.I. Joe and S.H.I.E.L.D. Also a cameo by Optimus Prime and Megatron, IDW style. I got no excuse for this one, it was a bit of fun that had rolled round in my head for a while LOL"
PANEL 1: (full width panel)
SCENE: A shot of the Pentagon from above, looking down on a 45 degree angle
PANEL 2:
SCENE: A man sitting in a chair, leaning forward, fingers interlaced in front of his face, he's wearing a suit and one way mirrored glasses
SUBTITLE: Federal Agent Franklin James
SUBTITLE: Director, Foundation for Law And Government (F.L.A.G.)
AGENT JAMES: Gentlemen, we have a problem...
PANEL 3:
SCENE: A shot of what looks like a television screen showing IDW Optimus Prime and IDW Megatron fighting
PANEL 4:
SCENE: A military General, wearing a typical uniform, his name badge reads Hawk
SUBTITLE: Major General Clayton M. Abernathy
SUBTITLE: Code name: Hawk. Commander, G.I. Joe
AGENT JAMES: And it's time we started working together
PANEL 5:
SCENE: Agent James again (same as PANEL 2)
AGENT JAMES: G.I. Joe has the manpower...
PANEL 6:
SCENE: A man with greying hair on his temples and an eyepatch on his left eye
SUBTITLE: Nick Fury
SUBTITLE: Director Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.)
AGENT JAMES: S.H.I.E.L.D. has the experience...
PANEL 7:
SCENE: Agent James again (same as PANEL 2)
AGENT JAMES: And F.L.A.G. has the technology...
PANEL 8: (full width panel)
SCENE: The Pentagon again (same as PANEL 1)
AGENT JAMES (SUBTITLE): What I propose is an alliance...
"Immortality" [2010-12-31]
Shane sez: "This one features Starscream's Ghost. This one is all because I was watching the Beast Wars episode "Possession" and so I wondered how he'd lost his body (again)…"
PANEL 1: An asteroid in deep space
PANEL 2: Same asteroid, closer, we see a crumpled Transformer body, a wing is visible, it's Starscream
PANEL 3: Over Starscream's body is a glittering shape, just a cloud at the moment
STARSCREAM (voice over): He did it to me again!
PANEL 4: The glittering shape is taking form, it's now recognizable as a seeker style shape
STARSCREAM (voice over): That's the second time Galvatron has blown me away…
PANEL 5: The glittering shape is now recognizable as Starscream, he's looking down at his body…
STARSCREAM (voice over): And the second time I've survived the destruction of my body…
PANEL 6: Close up on Starscream's glittering face, he's smiling rather maniacally
STARSCREAM (voice over): It would seem I have been touched by Primus himself.
PANEL 7: The glittering Starscream is collapsing into a ball of light
STARSCREAM: I AM IMMORTAL!
PANEL 8: The Starscream ball is now flying through space
STARSCREAM (voice over): And some day, I will find another body and have my revenge!
"Unicron Rising" [2010-12-31]
Shane: "This one tells a possible tale of how Unicron started on his course for Cybertron… Yup, I was reading the old Marvel comics, that's the only explanation for this one :D"
PANEL 1: (Full width panel) A shot of Cybertron in space. There are ripples in space radiating out from it.
SUBTITLES: The call went out.
PANEL 2: A metal city, full of robots, all look blurry except one
SUBTITLES: Primus was awake.
PANEL 3: The same robot as in PANEL 2, this time in a room, he's lowering a Unicron like mask over his face.
SUBTITLES: The Fallen Disciples were alerted.
PANEL 4: Deep in space, a dark planet starts moving.
SUBTITLES: Their master began to follow the signal.
PANEL 5: The same dark planet, only now we see the trademark ring of Unicron starting to move away from the surface of the planet, we start to see some color on the planet too
SUBTITLES: Their feud was about to begin again. A feud older than the universe.
PANEL 6: (Full width panel) Same shot of Cybertron as in PANEL 1 but no ripples, looking over it is a transparent image of Unicron's head
SUBTITLES: Primus had foreseen this, and prepared.
PANEL 7: Not a panel as such, the bit at the bottom of the page, reads like the intro to one of the classic Marvel G1 comics…
Created for one purpose, to fight the Chaos Bringer, Unicron, their world had been torn apart by eons of brutal civil war. Their race divided into two, the Heroic Autobots and the Evil Decepticons, with the ability to alter their shapes into those of vehicles, machinery and weapons… They are THE TRANSFORMERS
"Revelations" [2012-04-28]
PANEL 1: Full Width Panel
SCENE: A shot of a common city street, people walking down it
HAWK (subtitle): I know you are out there.
HAWK (subtitle): I can sense you now.
HAWK (subtitle): I know that you are afraid... Afraid of us. Afraid of change.
PANEL 2: Half Width Panel
SCENE: Similar to PANEL 1, only focusing on a phonebox
HAWK (subtitle): I do not know what the future holds.
HAWK (subtitle): I did not come here to tell you how this is going to end.
HAWK (subtitle): I came here to tell you how it is going to begin.
PANEL 3: Half Width Panel
SCENE: Similar to PANEL 2, Closer on the phonebox, we can see Metalhawk's Pretender shell inside
HAWK (subtitle): I am going to hang up this phone, and then I am going to show these people what you do not want them to see.
HAWK (subtitle): Us.
PANEL 4: The Rest of the Page
SCENE: Hawk shedding his Pretender shell and revealing himself in full robot mode, breaking the phonebox in the process
Author's Note: The titles and credits should go at the bottom of the page
Shane sez: "Yes, I blatantly ripped off The Matrix…"
"Rebirth At Darkmount" [2012-04-28]
PANEL 1: (Half width panel) Shot of Straxus' head, clearly inactive as his eyes are not lit.
PANEL 2: Same as PANEL 1 only now Straxus is online, eyes glowing.
MEDIC (Offscreen): Ahh, Lord Straxus, you're online at last…
PANEL 3: (Full width panel) We see Straxus' head sitting in an apparatus on a benchtop. A Decepticon Medic approaching him. The medic looks somewhat like Megatron, but with a blue helmet arms and waist, red lower legs and no fusion canon.
STRAXUS: Reaper? What happened? The last I remember is fighting that infuriating Autobot, Blaster*
SUBTITLE: See Transformers #18 – Historical Harry
PANEL 4: Reaper (the Decepticon Medic) is now sitting on a stool near the bench with Straxus' head on it.
REAPER: Indeed, he defeated you, sent you into the unstable vortex surrounding the Spacebridge.
STRAXUS: He… Destroyed me?
PANEL 5: We see Reaper clicking a remote to turn on a monitor screen opposite Straxus.
REAPER: Yes, however we spent the next eighty cycles working on a Quantum Energy Displacement engine, using plans left behind by Spanner.
REAPER: Using it we were able to retrieve a copy of your mental engrams a fraction before Blaster killed you…
PANEL 6: We see the screen now, it's showing an image that looks somewhat like a diagram of a wormhole.
REAPER: We discovered something in the process…
REAPER: We believe we can send mental engrams in both directions…
PANEL 7: Straxus' face, flowing across his eyes are a lot of ones and zeroes
REAPER: To that end we're downloading all the battle strategies our techs have come up with. When we're done, we'll send you back to just before the start of the battle…
STRAXUS: So I might change the outcome!
Shane sez: "Yes, my mind works strangely at times…"
"Conspiracy" [2012-04-28]
PANEL 1: Half page wide, quarter high
SCENE: We see the front windscreen of a yellow car, inside are two men, in the passenger seat is Miles Lancaster, behind the wheel is Sam Witwicky, they're talking, on the radio is playing 'Conspiracy' by Paramore (add some music notes and some of the lyrics along the bottom of the panel)
MILES (looking disbelieving): So, wait, you're trying to tell me that those... Those giant robots were real?
PANEL 2: Same size as PANEL 1
SCENE: Same scene as PANEL 1 except the music is different, same song, just the next lyrics
MILES: Come on, I mean Steven Spielberg admitted that they were just a publicity stunt for Robot Master...
PANEL 3: Same size as PANEL 1
SCENE: Same scene again, only next bit of the lyrics
MILES: Are you trying to tell me that someone brought Spielberg?
PANEL 4: Sae size as PANEL 1
SCENE: Same scene, further on with the music
MILES: And the government too?
PANELS 5-7: Each panel to take up full height remaining and 1/3rd of the remaining width
SCENE: This time we're looking at the front of the car, it's the 2009 Camaro we know as Bumblebee, in the center of the front grill is the Autobot symbol, we can see the bottom of the windscreen and the two occupants. In PANEL 5 the car's headlights are on, PANEL 6 the left headlight is off, the right is on, and PANEL 6 the headlights are both on. Music is still playing so lyrics and music notes again, just carry on with the lyrics from where they were left in PANEL 4
MILES: Hey, how'd you get the insurance to spring for a new Camaro anyway?
Shane sez: "Oh come on, y'all were wondering how he'd explain it too…"
wada sez: Check back tomorrow for the last of our script showcases!
wada sez: Gather 'round, gather 'round, I have two more lost scripts to show ye. These were shared by David Ellis, who wrote just a single Mosaic to be released: "War Story". Not for lack of trying, though! It's shocking to me that nobody picked up either of these scripts, as they're both remarkably good.
"Hobby Time" (Bumblebee) [2010-09-21]
Panel One
Iconic image of Bumblebee's robot mode as seen in the "--ation" trilogy. He's projecting a holomatter image of his holo-driver, the nameless hippy-chick female (and be sure to have her image flicker a bit so make it clear she's a hologram and not an actual human). The look on her face is inert; his is full of concentration.
(Also, leave room for the story's title and credits.)
CAPTION (Bumblebee's narrative): Holograms.
CAPTION: For Autobots and Decepticons alike, it's
functional.
Panel Two
Cut to a view of Bumblebee's vehicle mode driving down the highway with the same holo-female at the wheel. Maybe show another car passing by, to get a sense of the Autobots being seen by others on a regular basis. In fact, would it work for the POV of this panel to be from inside some motorist's car?
CAPTION: It allows us to hide in plain sight on
various worlds, without the natives wondering why we
"vehicles" are moving around without drivers.
CAPTION: Find a native, scan it, make a holo, and take
care of business.
Panel Three
Ideally, this panel should cover the width of the page. It's several versions of the same holo-female, each with a different outfit and hairstyle. The first could be her hippy-chick outfit as seen in the comics; another could be a Goth look; another could be a businesswoman, and so on. Heck, one could be wildly improbable like an heiress with a classy ballroom gown, or something from a Victoria's Secret store window (if that's not too risque), to show that while Bumblebee is aware of the idea of different looks on the same human, he's still experimenting and doesn't yet grasp the subtleties of fashion.
CAPTION: For me, it's something different.
CAPTION: A fascination, for lack of a better word.
CAPTION: The others don't notice, but I see so many
different humans wearing so many different things.
CAPTION: There's a point behind it; I know there is,
and I want my holo-driver to blend in.
Panel Four
We see Ironhide and Jazz watching Bumblebee as he crouches in a corner of their base, projecting his holo and looking for all the world like a boy caught playing with a doll. They look amused; he looks annoyed that they're teasing him.
CAPTION: The others are on my case about it.
CAPTION: Prowl tells me not to waste energy on
holomatter unless I'm on a mission. Jazz and Ironhide
think it's funny.
CAPTION: But they don't get it.
Panel Five
Tight closeup of Bumblebee modifying the holo-girl's hairstyle. His face has the concentration of an artist's, as if this practice is fulfilling some inner creative need.
CAPTION: This war with the Decepticons leaves so much
destruction and chaos, that it's a nice change of pace
just to...
CAPTION: ...create.
CAPTION: And I find myself wondering...
Panel Six
Cut to a police mugshot -- front view and side view, holding a nameplate in each one -- of a woman looking very much like Bumblebee's holo-girl, but she doesn't look much like the happy, idealized image Bumblebee carries around. She has a very weathered expression on her face, as she's not happy with the whole arrest-and-booking procedure; she looks like she's been through some hard living. The name and serial number can be whatever you want to put on there, just make it look like a convincing mugshot.
CAPTION: ...whatever happened to that human I scanned
once?
CAPTION: What's her life like? Is she anything like
the way I imagine her?
CAPTION: Maybe I'll find out one day.
END
wada sez: I'll be perfectly honest, David Ellis is clearly a cut above the vast majority of Mosaic writers. There's a few things here which make me roll my eyes—the rubbish title, the way it zeroes in on this one woman from Infiltration, and the twist of "aha, she was a criminal all along!"—but it's technically competent stuff that feels like it's engaging with actual human emotions through a uniquely Transformers lens. It's the idea of an image of a person as a proxy for the person themself; of idealising someone until the image becomes entirely divorced from the truth of that person. This is made more complex by the fact that this is also a form of self-actualization for Bumblebee; the woman he's fixating on forms the basis of an identity he is constructing for himself on Earth. The sentence "boy caught playing with a doll" evokes gender non-conformity to me—but on a much more direct level, I imagine many online Transformers fans would relate to this in the sense that we're all too old to be playing with toys, from a typical perspective. It's a story that invites interpretation and should resonate with people for different reasons, meaningfully building upon a minor beat from the official comics. For me, it's the final panel that really lets the script down—I think the dramatic irony of knowing the truth about the woman takes us out of Bumblebee's perspective without adding much to the story. Surely the tragedy here is that Bumblebee's life is so completely removed from human experience that he will likely never see this person again, and certainly never understand her! This next script is also thoughtful in its own way...
"Last of the Line" (Optimus Prime) [2010-09-21]
NOTE TO ARTIST AND COLORIST: This story takes place in the "Transformers: War for Cybertron" video game continuity. As such, all character designs and backgrounds should be noticeably in keeping with that game's aesthetic, with the exception of the last panel, which is '80s-era Generation One.
Also, except for the last panel, all characters should be in colors other than those we've come to associate with the canon characters. We're dealing with player-controlled character models from Team Deathmatch, explained here as other 'bots who walked off the same assembly lines as the characters we know.
Panel One
Splashy panel of War for Cybertron's multiplayer Autobots charging into battle on the "Molten" map. We see a dark blue SPEEDSTER SCOUT (Sideswipe's body), a red INTERCEPTOR JET SCIENTIST (Silverbolt's body), a green DEFENDER SOLDIER (Warpath's body), and – most notably – a gold HEAVY RIG LEADER (Optimus' body).
The Leader is bolstering his teammates with a War Cry ability, so it'd be cool to see the glowing effect around the Autobots (likely via computer coloring).
(Also, leave room for the story's title and credits.)
CAPTION (Optimus Prime's narrative): This war has consumed
our entire race.
CAPTION: Not just as a collective…
Panel Two
Reverse-angle shot of four Decepticons, toward whom the Autobots are charging. Bringing up the read is a CRUSHER SOLDIER (Brawl's body); leaping skyward is a STALKER SCIENTIST (Slipstream's body). Charging out in front are two ENFORCER SCOUTS (Barricade's body), distinguishable only by their differing color schemes. Most of the focus should be on the Enforcer Scouts.
CAPTION: …but as individuals as well.
CAPTION: We are born on assembly lines, batches of us,
numbering in the hundreds.
Panel Three
One Enforcer Scout (#1) transforms into his car mode, while the other (#2), continues firing his EMP shotgun.
CAPTION: Hundreds of the same model…
CAPTION: …but each one is distinct.
ENFORCER SCOUT #2: Flank 'em if you want, but I like the direct approach!
Panel Four
The Heavy Rig Leader cleaves #2 in the face with his Energon Axe, causing #2 to drop his shotgun. #1 can be seen in car mode behind Heavy Rig, peppering him with machine-gun fire.
ENFORCER SCOUT #2: Agk!
ENFORCER SCOUT #1: Serves you right!
CAPTION: Each one has become a fighter in this war…
Panel Five
Splashy panel of the CRUSHER SOLDIER in the Autobots' midst, clubbing Heavy Rig and Speedster Scout with his Energon Hammer while using his Whirlwind ability.
CAPTION: …but some are better soldiers than others.
Panel Six
Heavy Rig lies on the craggy magma ground, his armor shredded by Crusher's hammer. It's the instant before the Autobot explodes. Maybe include Crusher's foot in the panel as he walks over Heavy Rig's body.
CAPTION: Very few of us from ANY model line have survived to the present day.
Panel Seven
Cut to OPTIMUS PRIME (the real one, not just a Heavy Rig), G1-style, set against an Earth backdrop, perhaps a forest of trees in the Pacific Northwest – as far away from Cybertron's Molten map as one could get.
His posture is contemplative, as if it bothers him how few of his kind have survived.
CAPTION: Hundreds of thousands of lives lost.
CAPTION: Individual sparks extinguished.
CAPTION: Leaving precious few to carry on the model line, and the Cybertronian race itself.
CAPTION: I fear this war will lead to our extinction.
END
David sez: This one is based on the "Transformers: Warfor Cybertron" video game. It occurred to me that in a way all those multiplayer matches with player-created Transformers could actually be in continuity, since they're products of assembly lines. The multiplayer matches represent early skirmishes in the Autobot/Decepticon war, and that's why we haven't seen the countless iterations of the model lines that must have existed. They were blown to smithereenies.
wada sez: Just three scripts today, shared by Zac DeBoard in 2010. Most of Zac's credits on Mosaic strips are actually for editing, on various Seeds of Deception or The Lost Seasons stories—but you may remember I already shared an unused script of his, which ultimately evolved into "Loyalty Rewarded". Here are the rest!
Zac sez: "Another TF story set post BW. Featuring Star Upper! [...] I always thought this would make a good Mosaic piece cuz he so obscure. Unfortunately the concensus among those who read it was that he was too obscure. Haha."
A cage fighting match is about to take place. The building is a seedy bar with a large cage in the middle with tables set around it on various levels with steps leading to the higher levels.
On one side of the ring is a four armed alien of indeterminate origin, entering the other, is a technorganic being wearing an Austrailian Bush Hat, this is STAR UPPER.
(Star Upper's monologue)
I am the Galactic Fighting Champion. My days are spent living a lavish lifestyle, and my nights are spent bustin heads.
(One panel could show Star Upper in a hot tob of sorts with 2 femmebots, wearing his hat and perhaps even a gold chain. think Bender from Futurama...and another panel would show him beating up on the four armed alien)
But I yearn for something more.
I was once a promising member of an elite team of Maximal Agents.
(Here maybe we could show Star Upper with members of the Pack)
Fate had other plans for me.
(We'd show an image of Star Upper arguing with Lio Convoy)
Star Upper finishes off the alien with a tremendous uppercut. He replaces his hat and walks away with a sad look on his face. He is bored and lonely. He recieves a communication.
"Agent Star Upper."
STAR UPPER: "Sir!"
"The Predacons have openly declared war on the Imperium. We need every available mech for the war effort, therefore we nare reactivating your commision effective immediately. Return to Cybertron ASAP! Your planet needs you!"
STAR UPPER (saluting): "On my way sir!"
(Monolugue resumes)
My name is Star Upper.
I am a fighter--
--a soldier
but most importantly--
--I am a Maximal!
"Renegades Rising" (Bug Bite) [2010-03-05]
Zac sez: "Another unused script…I think this one was deemed "Too convoluted" for a TF:M."
wada sez: Oh he ain't kidding. This strip is based entirely on the Timelines prose story "Withered Hope", which starred the e-HOBBY exclusive set of "G1 GoBots". Honestly, "Withered Hope" is a pretty good story by Fun Publications' standards, but it opened a Pandora's box of GoBots/Transformers crossover material from the club which caused a bunch of arguments on the TFWiki, so who's to say if it's good or bad. Bug Bite, Spoons, and Crasher all had pretty faithful updates from Fun Publications and Hasbro, as listed below, while Cop-Tur was kind of a nameslap on a Club-exclusive Mini-Con. Bad Boy and Treds are the exceptions as nonexistent toys; in the e-HOBBY set, they were redecos of G1 Powerglide and Warpath respectively, so the Universe updates of those toys are natural choices from a stylistic standpoint.
CAST
BUGBITE (Based on Games of Deception Bugbite)
BAD BOY (Based on Universe Powerglide in "Bad Boy" colors)
SPOONS (Based on ROTF Deadlift)
CRASHER/FRACTURE (Based on ROTF/Universe Fracture with a more "Crasher-like" head)
COP-TUR (Based on TF Club Cop-Tur)
TREADS (Based on Universe Legends Warpath)
(*If references are needed for the characters I can provide links)
In a run-down lab on Cybertron, the being known as Bugbite has finally reunited with his old allies.
(BUGBITE'S MONOLOGUE)
The so-called "Great War" between the Autobots and the Decepticons has more victims than anyone realizes.
The destruction and chaos that stemmed from the war and the Dark Sciences that emerged as a result began to affect other worlds and eventually entire dimensions.
(Maybe show an image of either Jhiaxus or Shockwave in a lab)
Our home-dimension is on the brink of total destruction thanks to these Cybertronians. A group of our race was sent to this other reality to research the chaos and hopefully save our world.
(Here we could show an image of the "Gobots" that arrived in Axiom Nexus...Pathfinder, Smallfoot, Road Ranger, and the afore mentioned Renegades)
We failed.
Most of us were killed but those that remained found a new cause.
(Here, we'd show the "Guardians" being killed...maybe by Megatron's crew)
Revenge.
Hidden among the cybertronians, we have taken new bodies, and, in some cases, new names.
Staying undercover, we gathered all the information we needed.
And finally, it is time to strike. The Transformers....this entire universe will remember us.
And the Renegades will reign supreme!
"Clarity" (Beast Wars Megatron) [2010-06-23]
Megatron is back on Cybertron. The Beast Wars are over, but thanks to the miracles of transwarp science, he had found his way home before the Maximals who had imprisoned him.
(MEGATRONS INTERNAL MONOLOGUE)
I had planned for nearly every occurance.
For every betrayal...
(here would be a scene from the early Beast Wars eps where Dynobot first joins the Maximals)
I had a new recruit
(here would maybe show Inferno bowing to "his queen" or maybe Rampage submitting to a gloating Megs)
I was able to turn my enemies schemes into personal victories (maybe a panel referencing Tarantulas' rebuilding and Megatrons discovery of the Nemesis)
But in the end, there were things even I could not predict (maybe Dynobot turning on Megs in Nemesis) and Rhinox crashing thru in the Autobot shuttle.
The Beast Wars, like the Great War before it was plagued with the chaos of organic life.
The chaos of individuality.
Organics born with no programming to guide them. They will destroy our world....
unless I destroy them first....
I made a deal with my old mentor. He would help purge my body of its organic contamination and he would gain the power inherant in its form.
(this panel would show Megs and Cryotek in his body from Theft of the Golden Disk.)
I quickly betrayed him and used his rescources to create my transformation virus.
(This panel would show the newly Transmetal Dragon Cryotek shorting out and going into stasis. Megatron would then have him taken away by drones...early versions of his Vehicons maybe?)
All too soon I have brought order to chaos.
All are one at last....there is nothing to stand in my way.
(Megatron is seen in his control cloak, with his Beast Machines style form. In the background, the Autobot shuttle containing the Maximals can be seen)
