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01: THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVED
PAGE ONE: The opening of this page was quite struggle for me. When I started to draw it, I ran into the one problem I had complete overlooked. What does Cybertron look like now that it’s reformatted? Especially from orbit! I posted a message on a few boards hoping some people would give an idea or two. Instead I learn two things. One: Never ask questions about something people are rather edgy about because they’ll rarely give you answers that are actually any good. (If I have to hear the Teletubby land joke ONE MORE TIME…!) And Two: When in doubt… Rip off Contra! I had heard various suggestions by a few people of what the planet now looks like, but the best way to describe it was the third level of the old Nintendo game, Contra! Basically, we have Cybertron, standing tall with huge waterfalls, possibly thousands of kilometers deep, with oceans of that technorganic ooze. (Let’s face it, that chasm that Megatron opened to the core of Cybertron had to be pretty deep, and I could very well draw the planet like Namak, right after Frieza blasted it, right?) We have to assume that Cybertron was re-inserted into its orbit, otherwise things like flora and fauna just couldn’t exist without sunlight. Now I’m going with the theory that Not everything on Cybertron was turned Technorganic. Things like buildings just got covered with a lot of foliage. In other words, Cybertron has become an elaborate Rio de Janeiro. There are still buildings and cities, but now lush technorganic jungles surround them. This goes for the Vehicons as well. They weren’t reformatted. I’m going by the comic book rule “If you don’t see it, it didn’t happen!”. Sure there was Waspinator… But I think the fact he was a Vehicon with a spark played a factor in that. (In other words, just go with it!) PAGE TWO: Now the first questions I got when people saw this comic was “Why does Rattrap and Cheetor look so different from the show?” Easy. I went for my own design. Think of it like Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz. These designs of mine are supposed to be retroactive, thus they always looked like this. That plus… For God’s sake, just look at the show’s Rattrap! Who in God’s name could think that was a good idea?! And as for Cheetor… Well, at the time of drawing the comic, I was yet uncertain with his design. (Particularly his shoulders.) As of now, I got the design a little more fluid and less static looking. So just mark it up to being a fickle artist. :P PAGE THREE: Ah yes. The Maximal Elders. Now, obviously they’re not the original elders. I would have to think that after the Tripredacus Council, they were Megatron’s next targets. Who these Transformers are, is Generals, much like T-Wrecks, Big Convoy, Obsidian, and Strika. Originally the role of the inquisitor was supposed to go to Big Convoy, but after checking into it, this kind of diplomatic interrogating is not Big Convoy’s style. So the role went to Maximal General Proudwolf instead. Besides, I owe him beer, and since I ain’t going to Botcon this year, this should square it away! (And for those discussion board nuts who are trying to decipher the identities of the others, from left to right, it’s Strafe, Yeta, Demona, and Blue Sabre. PAGE FOUR: This page was a pain in the tailgate for me. Trying to symbolize five years of the Beast Wars and Beast Machines show in two panels just wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to do. Fortunately I think it turned out for the best. PAGE FIVE: Needless to say, the New Order of Elders here doesn’t look very fondly upon the Technorganic world that Cybertron has become, which becomes more evident as the series progresses. Originally I had Cheetor rationally arguing with the Elders, but then I had realized that Cheetor is not the rational one. That was Optimus Primal. Cheetor was always more hotheaded and more temperamental than the other Maximals. Except maybe Dinobot… PAGE SIX: I got a few comments about Rattrap’s reaction to Proudwolf’s questioning. Rattrap was second in command of Primal’s team there… And he not only couldn’t fulfill his duty in a crisis, he felt he had let them down. Granted, toward the end of Season One, he found his niche again, and became a useful team member again, but I got to think that the fact he felt he let the others down still gnaws at him. Especially considering the events of The Weak Component, where Cheetor, Blackarachnia and, Nightscream all attacked him thinking he was a traitor. Obviously, since him and Cheetor are good friends, he confides in him these things. (Which is why he came so quickly to his friend’s defense there.) Blackarachnia and Rattrap never saw eye to eye, and in my world, Rattrap hates Nightscream. Especially after the things that Nightscream said to Rattrap in that Savage/Noble incident. Watchful eyes will notice I based Tankorr after the toy as opposed to the show. PAGE SEVEN: At the Series end, Cheetor became linked with the Oracle. The problem is I believe that Cheetor, unlike Primal, has no idea what the Oracle is telling him. Especially since it’s speaking in different languages! “Morpheus ex Kyber” is actually my bastardization of ancient Greek, meaning “Robots in Disguise”. If I was smarter, I could probably look up what the real words are… But I’m not that interested, and the Oracle isn’t speaking Greek anyway. PAGE EIGHT: I believe this page is called in porno movies “The Money Shot.” I discovered that I really like drawing jungles. They’re quite fun! I’m tempted to have Cheetor swing on a vine sometime in this story… 02: Unacceptable Losses PAGE NINE: This page, and the following two pages began with a synopsis of the Beast Machines series for more than obvious reason. Not everyone who reads this story is going to have seen the show. And personally, I’d like to have all my readers not be totally clueless as to what’s going on just because they didn’t get up early on a Saturday morning and watch a toy advertisement. A good case in point is my fiancée who is the furthest thing from a Transfan. In her own words, “I can’t tell the difference from an Optimus Major or a Maximus Primatron.” :o) I do love her! PAGE TEN: Page ten here was an attempt to practice up on my digital painting skills. I thought considering my ‘anime’ like style, it would be best to have “cel styled” backgrounds. For the most part it works out… For others, it’s a real pain in the arse. Also you’ll notice that Cybertron’s moon is not reformatted. This is a key plot point as we’ll find out in stories to come. (By the way, thanks to Iacon Harborite, Kup for naming the moon. Sion was the winning name!) PAGE ELEVEN: You’ll probably notice right off the bat that the pages are layout differently this time around, stretching horizontally as opposed to vertically. This was an experiment I tried for this one act. It didn’t work out so well for me, so next issue I’ll be heading back to the vertical page layout. PAGE TWELVE: Yes, I got rid of Blackarachnia’s stupid six eyes! I’m sorry but they just looked to damn stupid. And one comment I got more than often with the last chapter was Cheetor’s black lips. Let explain something. Cheetahs have black lips. I carried it over from that. If you don’t like it, and it’s preventing you from enjoying the comic… Well, either learn to cope with it, or stop reading because I’m not changing it until the very end of the story. (Yes, that’s a cryptic foreshadowing.) PAGE THIRTEEN: As I drew that panel with the crowd of Transformers running over the hilltop, I kept thinking “This looks so damn stupid.” Then I just remembered “Oh wait. It looked stupid on television too!” PAGE FOURTEEN: This page. This page got a lot of comments from fellow Transfans. Some people thought I was making a political commentary on the Transfan Community. Others thought I was making a joke toward Beast Machines in general. And others thought I was slamming certain communities. Well, for the record… I deny, nor confirm nothing. Feel free to interpret the story as you feel fit to. I will say this much though… I liked Beast Machines. Also, I got Magmatron a beard and mustache. You really can’t tell in that panel at the bottom, but it’s there. In the next chapter it’s definitely more prominent. My friend James (Who’s working on the upcoming Threshold series.) told me it reminds him of the Decepticon Scourge. I can’t say I wasn’t somewhat influenced by that. PAGE FIFTEEN: I learned two things while drawing this page. 1: NEVER draw a cheetah (Technorganic or otherwise!) without some form of reference. Those ears are way too long! And 2: The Beast Rider Che is a piece of crap, and everyone agrees! PAGE SIXTEEN: Yes, I have made Nightviper a female. Why? Easy. The toy looks like one! I mean for months before we found out that there wasn’t going to be a Botanica toy, people swore up and down that Nightviper was Botanica! Feminine shape and similar designs. In the end though, Nightviper was just a cool toy that got no show time. I chose to make her a female because it’s more interesting. Besides, we needed a new female other than the ones we got. Besides, I think I did a good job on her design. Oh and Thunderhorn was my quick name for the Transmetal Rhinox repaint. Someone at the Allspark named him that once, and it stuck with me. So there you go. PAGE SEVENTEEN: Yes, Waspinator. I know a lot of Transfans hated what happened to him… But I found it hilarious! I’m a huge fan of Vincent Price’s “The Fly” and I found that scene at the end of the show a stitch! I had to include it in here. After writing a few lines with him, I decided that Waspinator is in this story for the long haul. He’s fun to write, and playing him off Cheetor like I did just opens up a whole new world of comedy I think. PAGE EIGHTEEN: This interaction between Cheetor and Waspinator… I could have gone on for hours with it. After the first few lines, it ended up like a Monty Python skit! There’s no way I could have gotten it all in here, so I had to severely edit the scene so it would fit. (Plus I was getting sick of drawing talking scenes.) Shame though. It was funny. PAGE NINETEEN: The Superion Spire. Obviously I named that after the Aerialbot’s Gestalt mode. For those curious, the Autobots are off on planet Victory and the Decepticons have turned Charr into a gambling colony. (See Macromasters for details on that one!) They won’t be showing up during this story. Though don’t quote me on that one. PAGE TWENTY: Big Convoy. No, he is not reformatted or anything. He was off planet along with the rest of the crew of the Gung Ho. Yes, he is a one man army… But even tough unstoppable generals need companionship. Also I know in the past I’ve been a real advocate about naming the Japanese characters in English translated accordance… For example Lioconvoy became Lioprimal. I always thought the name Primal was more like a rank than a name. (As Onyx Primal shows us with Optimus Primal and Prime Primal.) But with Big Convoy, Big Primal sounded stupid… And I just couldn’t come up with a decent enough names for him. Big Convoy it was. Which is fine with me… Chapter Three Promotional Yes. Jetstorm is back. Or is he? How and why is to be revealed later in the story… Let’s just say Blackarachnia will not be too happy. CHAPTER THREE COMING SOON! |
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All works is © 2001 David Reynolds
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